203. Middle Amana Church

You are on the east side of the street facing the Middle Amana church building ...

Historic Significance: This is the church for the Amana Church Society. Each village had its own church building that was located in the center part of the village. There are no steeples on the church building and they look very similar to other buildings in the village with the exception of size. Inside the building is very plain with scrubbed pine benches and no ornamentation. The practice in the Amana Church Society is that men and women are separated during the church service. Women enter through the north doors and men through the south doors. The Elders of the church sit in front looking out at the congregation with the women on one side and the men on the other. During early communal days the church members would attend 11 church services each week. Today there are services on Sunday (both in German and English) along with a Wednesday evening prayer service. This is one of two church buildings still used by the congregation today. 

As the last of the seven villages built, Middle Amana became the home of the final group of Inspirationists to leave Ebenezer, New York. The village was originally known as “Amana am Eck” (“Amana at the Corner”) because it was located at a bend in the road. Construction began in the village in 1862 and, by 1865, 34 buildings had already been completed.  Middle was the site of the Society’s second woolen mill, which operated until the late 1930s. Middle is also the site of the Amana public schools.