The Amana Colonies are made up of seven villages along the Iowa River settled in 1855 by a group of Germans from Ronneburg, Germany. They called themselves Inspirationists who sought religious freedom and a communal way of life centered around their church. With an ebbing economy, shift in their individual goals, and more and more young people leaving the community, Amana decided to undergo the “Great Change” of 1932 — unincorporating the town and veering away from their communal style of living as a means to an end. The colonies now bring in thousands of tourists with their modernized German festivals and unique souvenir shops, but the families who have spent generations in this community hold steadfast to their identity, traditions, and life in the church.
Children in blue and brown lederhosen stand near the centerpiece of one of the event tents during the Oktoberfest festival in Amana, Iowa on Sept. 30, 2023.
Joyce Fels (left) and Guy Wendler (center) chat after the Easter Sunday sunrise church service at the Main Amana Church in Amana, Iowa on March 31, 2024. Some women in Amana still choose to wear the traditional dark, plain dress and bonnet, which they grew up wearing to church before the “Great Change.”
Gunther Sandersfeld hugs his mother Heidi before he leaves his Oma’s home in Amana, Iowa after Sunday brunch on Nov. 26, 2023. The Sandersfeld family has been in Amana since it was settled in 1855 under the names Moershel and Zuber. Heidi’s Opa, William “Bill” Zuber, left Amana to play professional baseball — including pitching for the Boston Red Sox in the 1946 World Series — before returning to the community and opening a baseball-themed restaurant.
Marlene Trumpold, 90 and sporting a “my cow died so I don’t need your bull” hat, takes a break from gardening at her home in Middle Amana, Iowa as her grandson Otto Stockman, 1, plays in a wagon behind her on April 13, 2024. She replants her vegetable garden every year with the help of her family and grows a lot of the food she cooks for herself and her family.
Austin Hinrichs, an employee of Amana Society Farms, checks the soil where he planted soybeans in Middle Amana, Iowa on April 13, 2024. Born and raised in Amana, he started working on the Amana farms when he was 14 years old and came back to work full-time after studying agriculture at Iowa State University.
A child skips with a polka dance group at the Oktoberfest festival in Amana, Iowa on Sept. 30, 2023. Oktoberfest is a relatively new tradition for the Amana Colonies having brought the German festival to life in the community in 1965, after the “Great Change.”
Sue Kluber (Bottom Right), quilt and fiber artist, talks to visitors of Quilt Amana about her quilt work in Amana, Iowa on April 13, 2024. The colonies had a woolen mill and were known for their textiles. Some of the Amana women used to form groups to quilt together.
Allison Momany helps her Oma, Marlene Trumpold, 90, plant potatoes at their shared home garden in Middle Amana, Iowa on April 13, 2024. Amana has historically been an independent society, growing and raising their own food, and serving communal meals. This practice is less prominent since the “Great Change,” but Allison and her Oma still live in a communal style home and share their family garden.
Liesl Yunek (right) watches Otto Stockman (center) and Theo Stockman (front left) as their father, Tyler Stockman (back center), retrieves one of their toys during breakfast before the Easter Sunday sunrise church service at the Main Amana Church on March 31, 2024. The Amana people would attend church services 11 times a week, men and women entering and sitting on different sides of the room, before the “Great Change.” The Main Amana Church building, where the Easter service was held, was the longest building west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built.
Ellery Sandersfeld (left) and her mom Heidi Sandersfeld (right) chuckle to each other at Ellery’s Oma’s home in Amana, Iowa after Easter Sunday brunch on March 31, 2024. Although this Amana family does not live in the traditional communal style home they historically would have, Heidi is neighbors with her sister Gretchen and they are both just down the street from their mother, Connie Zuber Baugh.
Two girls enjoy a pizza at the Oktoberfest festival in Amana, Iowa on Sept. 30, 2023. The Amana Colonies were traditionally known for their “family style” meals and visitors passing through would stop to join them for a communal meal.
Paula and Jonathon Hussein share a sweet moment at the Amana’s International Christmas Market inside of the Amana General Store in Amana, Iowa on Sept. 30, 2023. The Amana General Store would have historically been the community’s grocery store, but now mostly sells souvenirs and gifts. Half of the store is dedicated solely to Christmas decorations and ornaments.