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Hutterite Christian Communities

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The Puster Valley ( Italian : Val Pusteria [ˈval pusteˈriːa] ; German : Pustertal , Ladin : Val de Puster ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol , Austria , and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol , Italy . The South Tyrolean municipalities of the Puster Valley constitute the Puster Valley district.

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58-401: The Hutterite Christian Communities are an affiliation of independent Hutterite colonies that work closely together and also have their preachers delivering sermons in the other colonies of this affiliation. Currently there are four colonies: These communities have about 525 people living there, mostly ethnic Hutterites, but there is one person of Russian Mennonite background, as well as

116-402: A Calvinist , "invited" Hutterites to come to his country. In fact he forced a group of 186 Hutterites to come to Alvinc (today Vințu de Jos, Romania ) in 1622, because he needed craftsmen and agricultural workers to develop his land. In the next two years more Hutterites migrated to Transylvania, in total 690 or 1,089 persons, depending on the sources. In the second half of the 17th century,

174-409: A few of the peasants involved in the uprising later became Anabaptists. While a connection between a violent social revolution and non-resistant Anabaptism may be hard to imagine, the common link was the desire for a radical change in the prevailing social injustices. Disappointed with the failure of armed revolt, Anabaptist ideals of an alternative peaceful, just society probably resonated on the ears of

232-530: A few people from other Christian backgrounds. This article about a Christian organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hutterite Hutterites (German: Hutterer ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: Hutterische Brüder ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists , who, like the Amish and Mennonites , trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of

290-490: A fire destroyed most of the buildings at Radichev, the Hutterites gave up their community of goods. Because the lands of the Hutterites at Radichev were not very productive, they petitioned to move to better lands. In 1842 they were allowed to relocate to Molotschna , a Mennonite colony, where they founded the village Hutterthal . When they moved, the total Hutterite population was 384 with 185 males and 199 females. In 1852

348-452: A second village was founded, called Johannesruh and, by 1868, three more villages were founded: Hutterdorf (1856), Neu-Huttertal (1856), and Scheromet (1868). In Ukraine, the Hutterites enjoyed relative prosperity. When they lived among German-speaking Mennonites in Molotschna, they adopted the very efficient form of Mennonite agriculture that Johann Cornies had introduced. In 1845,

406-455: A series of migrations through central and eastern Europe. Nearly extinct by the 18th century, they migrated to Russia in 1770 and about a hundred years later to North America . Over the course of 140 years, their population living in communities of goods recovered from about 400 to around 50,000 at present. Today, almost all Hutterites live in Western Canada and the upper Great Plains of

464-515: A small group of Hutterites made plans to renew the community of goods, but was told to wait until the government had approved their plans to buy separate land. A group led by the preacher George Waldner made another attempt but this soon failed. In 1859 Michael Waldner was able to reinstate community of goods at one end of Hutterdorf, thus becoming the founder of the Schmiedeleut . In 1860, Darius Walter founded another group with community of goods at

522-413: A vote before they are implemented. The voting and decision-making process at most colonies is based upon a two-tiered structure including a council — usually seven senior males — and the voting membership, which includes all the married men of the colony. For each "significant" decision the council will first vote and, if passed, the decision will be carried to the voting membership. Officials not following

580-670: A war about religion when in 1620 the mostly Protestant Bohemia and Moravia were invaded by the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II , a Catholic, who annihilated and plundered several Hutterite settlements. In 1621 the Bubonic plague followed the war and killed one third of the remaining Hutterites. Renewed persecution followed the Habsburg takeover of the Czech lands in 1620 and in the end annihilated them there as an Anabaptist group. In 1622

638-434: Is concerned. This has changed in recent years and colonies have started to depend a little more on outside sources for food, clothing and other goods. Hutterite agriculture today is specialized and more or less industrialized. Hutterite children therefore have no close contact with farm animals any longer and are not protected from asthma through close contact with farm animals, like Amish children are, but are now similar to

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696-582: The Armistice had been signed, bringing an end to the war. The Hutterite community said the men died from mistreatment; the U.S. government said the men died of pneumonia . The Hutterites responded to this mistreatment of their conscientious objectors by leaving the United States and moving to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. All 18 existing American colonies were abandoned, except

754-682: The Black Sea via the Danube . The watershed lies in the shallow valley floor called Toblacher Feld ( Conca di Dobbiaco ). The Rienz river flows westwards through the Puster Valley and the Drau river flows eastwards into East Tyrol . The eastern part of the valley on the upper Drava is called Upper Puster Valley . The towns in the Puster Valley are located between 750 and 1,180 meters (2,460 and 3,870 ft) above sea level. The most important of these towns in

812-560: The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada because "Hutterite colony members eat, work, and worship together in community settings and share possessions", according to one report. The groups were taking steps to minimize the spread of the virus. One news report defined the business operations of colonies as "industrial grade farms that produce grains, eggs, meat and vegetables, which are sold to large distributors and at local farmer's markets". Section 143 of

870-646: The Celtic invaders merged with the Illyrian population. Around the end of the I century B.C, the Rienz valley was mainly used by the Romans as an arterial road to connect the north-eastern regions of the Empire . The Puster Valley belonged to the imperial province of Noricum , and the local populations, during the four centuries of the domination of Rome , began to assimilate the customs,

928-669: The Central Eastern Alps , as well as most of the limestone Alps from the central gneiss and slate peaks of the range's central section. East of Sillian , the Puster Valley leaves the Peradriatic Line (which moves into the Gail valley) and turns to the northeast towards Lienz. Half of the valley drains to the west to the Adriatic via the Adige river; the other half drains to the east to

986-762: The Habsburg monarchy , met the Hutterian Brethren at Alvinc. These Carinthian Protestants read the "account of the belief of the Hutterian Brethren" written by Peter Riedemann, which was given to them by the Brothers, and then decided to join the Hutterites. This latter group revived the Hutterite religion, became dominant among the Hutterites and replaced the Tyrolean dialect of the old Hutterites by their Carinthian one, both being Southern Bavarian dialects. In 1762 community of goods

1044-657: The Homestead Act of 1862 , whereas some 400 identified as Gemeinschaftler (literally, "community people") and started three communities with community of goods. Most Hutterites are descended from these latter 400. Named for the leader of each group (the Schmiedeleut, Dariusleut and Lehrerleut, leut being based on the German word for people ), they settled initially in the Dakota Territory . Here, each group reestablished

1102-532: The Income Tax Act of Canada, introduced in 2007 and modified in 2014 with section 108(5), contains special rules to accommodate Hutterite colonies. According to a 2018 Senate report, colonies do not file income tax returns as corporations, but as individual members: Based on a memorandum of understanding between the Hutterites and the Minister of National Revenue, section 143 creates a fictional trust to which all

1160-618: The Puster Valley region in 1527, which most likely was the first introduction of Anabaptist ideas in the area. Another visit through the area in 1529 reinforced these ideas, but he was captured and burned at the stake in Klausen on September 6, 1529. Jakob Hutter was one of the early converts in South Tyrol and later became a leader among the Hutterites, who received their name from him. Hutter made several trips between Moravia and Tyrol—most of

1218-711: The Sextner Bach and the Villgraten-Bach . The Puster Valley was inhabited since prehistoric times as finds belonging to the Iron Age have been found in that area. In more recent times this zone was inhabited by people belonging to the Illyrian stock : they were called "Saevates" by the Romans (hence the name "Sebatum" of the Roman station of today's Saint Lawrence .) In the 6th century,

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1276-538: The principle of worldly separation ". Former members are shunned and are not to be spoken to. Hutterite communes, called "colonies", are all rural; many depend largely on farming or ranching , depending on their locale, for their income. Colonies in the modern era have been shifting to manufacturing as it gets more difficult to make a living on farming alone. The colony is virtually self-sufficient as far as labor, constructing its own buildings, doing its own maintenance and repair on equipment, making its own clothes, etc.,

1334-535: The 16th century, there was a considerable degree of religious tolerance in Moravia because in the 15th century there had been several proto-Protestant movements and upheavals ( Czech Brethren , Utraquists , Picards , Minor Unity ) in Bohemia and Moravia due to the teachings of Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415). Therefore, Moravia, where Hubmaier had also found refuge, was the land where the persecuted Anabaptist forerunners of

1392-706: The Amish, the Old Order Mennonites and the Old Colony Mennonites , who have almost no written books about Anabaptist theology , the Hutterites possess an account of their beliefs, Account of Our Religion, Doctrine and Faith, of the brethren who are called Hutterites (original German title Rechenschafft unserer Religion, Leer und Glaubens ), written by Peter Riedemann in 1540–1541. There are also extant theological tracts and letters by Hans Schlaffer, Leonhard Schiemer, and Ambrosius Spittelmaier. The founder of

1450-471: The Anabaptists in South Tyrol ended up emigrating to Moravia because of the fierce persecution unleashed by Ferdinand I . In November 1535, Hutter was captured near Klausen and taken to Innsbruck , where he was burned at the stake on February 25, 1536. By 1540 Anabaptism in South Tyrol was beginning to die out, largely because of the emigration to Moravia of the converts to escape incessant persecution. In

1508-459: The Apostles (chapters 2 (especially verse 44), 4, and 5) and 2 Corinthians . A basic tenet of Hutterite groups has always been nonresistance , i.e. forbidding its members from taking part in military activities, taking orders from military persons, wearing a formal uniform (such as a soldier's or a police officer's) or paying taxes to be spent on war. This has led to expulsion from or persecution in

1566-580: The Hutterite community was in decline. It had suffered from Ottoman incursions during which the Bruderhof at Alvinc was burned down in 1661. Towards the end of the century, community of goods was abandoned, when exactly is not known. Johannes Waldner assumes in Das Klein-Geschichtsbuch der Hutterischen Brüder that this happened in 1693 or 1694. In 1756, a group of Crypto-Protestants from Carinthia who in 1755 were deported to Transylvania by

1624-546: The Hutterite tradition, Jakob Hutter , "established the Hutterite colonies on the basis of the Schleitheim Confession , a classic Anabaptist statement of faith". In accordance with this confession of faith, Hutterite theology emphasizes credobaptism , a belief in the Church invisible , Christian pacifism , and the rejection of oaths. The Hutterite Churches also believe in "a set of community rules for Christian living and

1682-562: The Hutterites fled to, originating mostly from different locations in what is today Southern Germany , Austria and South Tyrol . Under the leadership of Jakob Hutter in the years 1530 to 1535, they developed the communal form of living that distinguishes them from other Anabaptists, such as the Mennonites and the Amish. Hutterite communal living is based on the New Testament books of the Acts of

1740-572: The Hutterites were expelled from Moravia and fled to the Hutterite settlements in Hungary, where overcrowding caused severe hardship. Some Moravian Hutterites converted to Catholicism and retained a separate ethnic identity as the Habans (German: Habaner ) until the 19th century (by the end of World War II , the Haban group had become essentially extinct). In 1621 Gabriel Bethlen , prince of Transylvania and

1798-580: The Supreme Court. By this time, many Hutterites had already established new colonies in Alberta and Saskatchewan . During World War I , the pacifist Hutterites suffered persecution in the United States. In the most severe case, four Hutterite men, who were subjected to military draft but refused to comply, were imprisoned and physically abused. Ultimately, two of the four men, the brothers Joseph and Michael Hofer , died at Leavenworth Military Prison after

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1856-676: The United States . The Anabaptist movement, from which the Hutterites emerged, started in groups that formed after the early Reformation in Switzerland led by Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531). These new groups were part of the Radical Reformation , which departed from the teachings of Zwingli and the Swiss Reformed Church . In Zürich on January 21, 1525, Conrad Grebel (c. 1498–1526) and Jörg Blaurock (c. 1491–1529) practiced adult baptism to each other and then to others. From Switzerland Anabaptism quickly spread northward and eastward in

1914-459: The advice of Russian army commander "Sämetin" (Генерал-майор Александр Гаврилович Замятин, General-Mayor Aleksandr Gavrilovitch Zamyatin) in Bucharest, who proposed that they emigrate to Russia where Count Pyotr Rumyantsev would provide them with land all they need for a new beginning. On August 1, 1770, after more than three months of traveling, the group of about 60 persons reached their new home,

1972-687: The average colony is the "Farm Boss". This person is responsible for all aspects of overseeing grain farming operations. This includes crop management, agronomy , crop insurance planning and assigning staff to various farming operations. Beyond these top-level leadership positions there will also be the "Hog Boss", "Dairy Boss", and so on, depending on what agricultural operations exist at the specific colony. In each case these individuals are fully responsible for their own areas of responsibility, and will have other colony residents working in those respective areas. The Minister, Secretary, and all "boss" positions are elected positions and many decisions are put to

2030-470: The disappointed peasants. Before Anabaptism proper was introduced to South Tyrol, Protestant ideas had been propagated in the region by men such as Hans Vischer, a former Dominican. Some of those who participated in conventicles where Protestant ideas were presented later became Anabaptists. As well, the population in general seemed to have a favorable attitude towards reform, be it Protestant or Anabaptist. Jörg Blaurock appears to have preached itinerantly in

2088-527: The early 16th century and have formed intentional communities . The founder of the Hutterites, Jakob Hutter , "established the Hutterite colonies on the basis of the Schleitheim Confession , a classic Anabaptist statement of faith" of 1527, and the first communes were formed in 1528. Since the death of Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially those espousing a community of goods and nonresistance , have resulted in hundreds of years of diaspora in many countries. The Hutterites embarked on

2146-537: The general North American population. Hutterite colonies are mostly patriarchal with women participating in roles such as cooking, medical decisions, and selection and purchase of fabric for clothing. Each colony has three high-level leaders. The two top-level leaders are the Minister and the Secretary. A third leader is the Assistant Minister. The Minister also holds the position as president in matters related to

2204-415: The incorporation of the legal business entity associated with each colony. The Secretary is widely referred to as the colony "Manager", "Boss" or "Business Boss" and is responsible for the business operations of the colony, such as bookkeeping, cheque-writing and budget organization. The Assistant Minister helps with church leadership (preaching) responsibilities, but will often also be the "German Teacher" for

2262-489: The labors of Jörg Blaurock. The Gaismair uprising set the stage by producing a hope for social justice in a way that was similar to the German Peasants' War . Michael Gaismair had tried to bring religious, political, and economical reform through a violent peasant uprising, but the movement was squashed. Although little hard evidence exists of a direct connection between Gaismair's uprising and Tyrolian Anabaptism, at least

2320-767: The lands of Count Rumyantsev at Vishenka in Ukraine, which at this time was part of the Russian Empire . In their new home, the Hutterites were joined by a few more Hutterites who could flee from Habsburg lands, as well as a few Mennonites , altogether 55 persons. When Count Pyotr Rumyantsev died in 1796, his two sons tried to reduce the status of the Hutterites from free peasants ( Freibauern ) to that of serfs ( Leibeigene ). The Hutterites appealed to Tsar Paul I , who allowed them to settle on crown land in Radichev , some 12 km (7 miles) from Vishenka, where they would have

2378-706: The language and finally the Christian religion . In the 5th century the Goths , the Baiuvarii and the Slavs decided to descend in this area, with consequent conflicts between Baiuvarii and Slavs, which ended with the Baiuvarii victory. In the 10th century the Puster Valley started to belong to the Pustrissa countship, firstly mentioned in 974 as Pustrissa and Pustrussa ; in 1091 the countship

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2436-525: The language of instruction in schools; then in 1871 a law introduced compulsory military service. These led the Mennonites and Hutterites to make plans for emigration. After sending scouts to North America in 1873 along with a Mennonite delegation , almost all Hutterites, totaling 1,265 individuals, migrated to the United States between 1874 and 1879 in response to the new Russian military service law. Of these, some 800 identified as Eigentümler (literally, "owners") and acquired individual farms according to

2494-619: The number of Hutterites reached twenty to thirty thousand. In 1593 the Long Turkish War , which affected the Hutterites severely, broke out. During this war, in 1605, some 240 Hutterites were abducted by the Ottoman Turkish army and their Tatar allies and sold into Ottoman slavery . It lasted until 1606; however, before the Hutterites could rebuild their resources, the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) broke out. It soon developed into

2552-639: The oldest one, Bon Homme , where Hutterites continued to live. Other colonies moved to Canada but did not sell their vacant colonies. In 1942, alarmed at the influx of Dakota Hutterites buying copious tracts of land, the Province of Alberta passed the Communal Properties Act , severely restricting the expansion of the Dariusleut and Lehrerleut colonies. Although disallowed by the federal government in 1943 – the last time provincial legislation

2610-623: The other end of Hutterdorf, thus creating the Dariusleut . Trials to establish a communal living in Johannisruh after 1864 did not succeed. It took until 1877, after the Hutterites had already relocated to South Dakota, before a few families from Johannisruh, led by preacher Jacob Wipf, established a third group with communal living, the Lehrerleut . In 1864, the Primary Schools' Bill made Russian

2668-628: The property of the Hutterite colony and any associated income belongs. The trust's income may then be allocated to the individual Hutterite members, according to a formula set out in section 143, who can then claim the income on their personal tax returns. In 2018, the Senate of Canada asked the House of Commons to review the legislation, because Hutterites were not being allowed to claim the Working Income Tax Benefit refundable tax credit (WITB), which

2726-516: The same privileged status as the German Mennonite colonists from Prussia . Around the year 1820 there was significant inner tension: a large faction of the brothers wanted to end the community of goods. The community then divided into two groups that lived as separate communities. The faction with individual ownership moved to the Mennonite colony Chortitza for some time, but soon returned. After

2784-451: The school-aged children. The Secretary's wife sometimes holds the title of Schneider (from German "tailor") and thus she is in charge of clothes' making and purchasing the colony's fabric requirements for the making of all clothing. The term "boss" is used widely in colony language. Aside from the Secretary, who functions as the business boss, there are a number of other significant "boss" positions in most colonies. The most significant in

2842-551: The selected decisions can be removed by a similar vote of a colony. There is a wide range of leadership cultures and styles between the three main colony varieties. In some cases very dominant ministers or secretaries may hold greater sway over some colonies than others. Puster Valley The Puster Valley is located in the western part of the Periadriatic Seam , which separates the Southern Limestone Alps from

2900-413: The several lands in which they have lived. In Moravia, the Hutterites flourished for several decades; the period between 1554 and 1565 was called "good" and the period between 1565 and 1592 was called "golden". During that time the Hutterites expanded to Upper Hungary , present-day Slovakia. In the time until 1622 some 100 settlements, called Bruderhof , developed in Moravia and Kingdom of Hungary, and

2958-564: The timespan of one year. Balthasar Hubmaier (c. 1480–1528), a Bavarian from Friedberg , became an Anabaptist in Zürich in 1525 but fled to Nikolsburg in Moravia in May 1526. Other early Anabaptists who became important for the emerging Hutterites were Hans Denck (c. 1500–1527), Hans Hut (1490–1527), Hans Schlaffer († 1528), Leonhard Schiemer (c. 1500–1528), Ambrosius Spittelmayr (1497–1528) and Jakob Widemann († 1536). Most of these early Anabaptists soon became martyrs of their faith. Anabaptism appears to have come to Tyrol through

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3016-535: The traditional Hutterite communal lifestyle. Over the next decades, the Hutterites who settled on individual farms, the so-called Prärieleut , slowly assimilated first into Mennonite groups and later into the general American population. Until about 1910 there was intermarriage between the Prärieleut and the communally living Hutterites. Several state laws were enacted seeking to deny Hutterites religious legal status to their communal farms (colonies). Some colonies were disbanded before these decisions were overturned in

3074-451: The western valley are Toblach , Welsberg-Taisten , Olang , and Bruneck ; the most important in the eastern valley are Innichen , Sexten , and Sillian . The largest tributaries of the Rienz river form the Antholzer Bach , the Ahr , the Pragser Bach , the Gsieser Bach , the Gran Ega , the Pfunderer Bach , and the Lüsenbach . The Puster Valley's largest side valley is the Tauferer Ahrntal . The Drau's largest eastern tributaries are

3132-440: Was available to other farmers in Canada. During the Great Depression when there was a lot of economic pressure on farming populations, some Schmiedeleut moved back to South Dakota , resettling abandoned property and buying abandoned colonies from the Darius- and the Lehrerleut. After World War II some Darius- and Lehrerleut also went back to the U.S., mainly to Montana . Contrary to other traditional Anabaptist groups like

3190-408: Was ceded by the Emperor Henry IV to the Bishop of Brixen and in the 16th century the Hapsburg took possession of it. During the Napoleonic era , following the Austrian defeat at Austerlitz and the treaty of Pressburg in 1805, the entire region passed to the Bavaria : the Tyroleans, led by Andreas Hofer, repeatedly fought against the Bavarian domination. After Napoleon's fall, the Puster valley

3248-481: Was reestablished in Alvinc. In 1767 the Hutterites fled from Transylvania first to Kräbach, that is Ciorogârla in Wallachia , which was at that time some 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Bucharest . When the Hutterites left Transylvania, their number was down to 67 people. In Wallachia they encountered much hardship because of lawlessness and the war between Russia and Turkey (1768–1774). The Russians took Bucharest on November 17, 1769. The Hutterites then sought

3306-402: Was reunited with Austria and, following the World War I , it was assigned to Italy . Opening in 1871 the Puster Valley Railway uses the relative simple landscape to avoid climbing steep slopes. The Puster Valley District ( Italian : Comprensorio della Val Pusteria ; German : Bezirksgemeinschaft Pustertal ) was founded in 1969 with the merger of 26 municipalities. Its combined area

3364-473: Was so disallowed in Canadian history – and eventually repealed in 1973, the act resulted in the establishment of a number of new colonies in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The Hutterian Brethren Church was recognized by Parliament in 1951. As of March 2018, there were approximately 34,000 Hutterites in 350 colonies in Canada, 75 percent of the Brethren living in North America. During summer 2020, many colonies struggled with outbreaks during

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