faith must be active in love
the story of the founding of the Bruderhof, for its 105th anniversary
Welcome back, readers, and welcome, new readers –
In this post, we’re pointing you to “Community is Born”, an account of the founding of the Bruderhof by Emmy Arnold, a co-founder along with her husband, Eberhard, and sister Else von Hollander. On June 21, 1920, the Arnold family moved from their Berlin townhouse to the village of Sannerz where they began a life in community inspired by the first church in Jerusalem as described in Acts 2 and 4. As Emmy wrote,
There was no financial basis of any kind…for buying the Villa at Sannerz and realizing our dream of a community house. But that made no difference. We decided it was time to turn our backs on the past and start afresh in full trust. Well-meaning friends shook their heads. What an act of rash irresponsibility for a father of five little children to go into the unknown like that! Frau Michaelis, the wife of Eberhard’s former boss at the publishing house who had served as Chancellor of the Reich during the war [World War I], visited me and offered to help the children and me should my husband really take this “unusual” step. After talking with me, she reported to a mutual friend: “She is even more fanatical than he is! There is nothing we can do.”
We enjoyed the first days of quiet life in the country very much. In the mornings we continued setting up and took care of the children, the cooking, and the washing. In the afternoons we went to the Albinger Mountains with a wagon to collect firewood, which the forester had permitted….Certainly we had hoped that we would have some time to catch our breath after the strain of the last years in Berlin. But from the first…the place was buzzing with visitors. Almost every evening we had long discussions about socialism and communism, agape and eros, individualism and community, etc. The guests were drawn into the work, which consisted primarily of hauling and splitting wood.
The first period of Sannerz lasted from autumn 1920 to summer 1922. This was the time of founding and first enthusiasm. What thrilled us was waiting together for the coming kingdom, the expectation of the age of love, when world suffering and sin, social injustice and murder and death will be overcome. We expected this not in some distant future but felt it could become reality every day for this earth. So we felt urged to fashion our life on this future, that eternity become time. We felt that nothing could be separate anymore, but everything must be united in the atmosphere of Christ. And, as a budding community, we wanted to dedicate our lives to this goal of unity…Faith had to be active in love.
Emmy’s full account starts in the years before 1920 in the “great confusion” of the aftermath of World War I:
The question: “Where was God in 1914?” was raised again and again. The pastors had preached for the war, had blessed the weapons, had prayed for Germany’s victory. Whose prayers should God answer? Germany’s, England’s, or France’s? An atmosphere of death could be felt throughout our country.
The idea of a life of community based on the teachings of Jesus seemed to Emmy, Eberhard, Else, and their friends the only possible way to “find a way out…and build a completely different life.” It’s a dramatic and unlikely story from a time when many certainties about national and international politics had been shaken by war, and we hope you will read it and be inspired.
Wishing you a wonderful summer (or winter if you are in the southern hemisphere)!
Marianne, Trudi, and Norann
As many of you may know, our communities have been devastated by the deaths of two members in an accident. We have been taking time to grieve – here are some thoughts from Norann and Chris on that – and hope to be back to more regularly scheduled posts soon.
Trudi: Esther was just one year older than I, and although I only knew her from meeting her several times over the last years, I read her writing on various platforms, and admired the way she wrote and lived. Like everyone in our church, I am deeply shaken by her and her father’s tragic deaths.
Recently, when enjoying the beauty of creation, I think of Esther and Tim, of our war-torn earth, and of the mystery of life and death and eternity. And I look forward to the day when there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and all suffering will pass away.
