The Bruderhof is a communal Anabaptist Christian movement founded in Germany in 1920 by Eberhard Arnold. Its name means “place of brothers” in German. The movement is an intentional community that practices shared ownership, believer’s baptism, nonviolence, and lifelong faithfulness in marriage. The term “Bruderhof” was first used by early Anabaptists in Moravia; Arnold adopted it in 1926.
Arnold, born in 1883 in Königsberg, East Prussia, was a philosophy student influenced by the German Youth Movement and Pietism. In 1907, he and his future wife, Emmy von Hollander, left the Evangelical State Church over its ties to the state and its perceived role in World War I.
In 1920, Arnold, his family, and seven others rented a house in Sannerz, Hesse, to form a Christian community. As numbers grew, they moved to the Rhön Mountains. There, Arnold discovered that Hutterite communities still existed in North America. In 1930, he visited them, was ordained a Hutterian minister, and maintained fellowship with the Hutterites from 1930-1955 and 1974-1995.
The rise of Nazism put The Bruderhof under pressure for refusing military service and rejecting Nazi ideology. In 1934, draft-age men and children relocated to Liechtenstein, forming the Alm Bruderhof, and in 1936 others moved to England to start the Cotswold Bruderhof. In 1937, German police shut down the Rhön Bruderhof, ordering members to flee within 48 hours. By 1938, all members were in England.
The English community grew to over 350, attracting many young conscientious objectors. But suspicion of German members and their pacifism led to boycotts. In 1940, faced with the internment of Germans and conscription of English members, The Bruderhof chose to leave.
In 1941, aided by the Mennonite Central Committee, they moved to Paraguay, then the only country willing to accept a multinational pacifist group. They settled in eastern Paraguay, founding three settlements on land called Primavera and opening a hospital for members and locals.
Internal tensions surfaced in 1942, involving leaders and members including Emmy Arnold. Johann Heinrich Arnold, son of Eberhard and Emmy, traveled to the U.S. to raise funds, later founding the Woodcrest community in Rifton, New York, in 1954. Disputes continued, leading to leadership changes and departures. The Paraguayan settlements eventually closed, with remaining members relocating to the U.S.
Woodcrest was The Bruderhof’s first U.S. settlement, followed by communities in Pennsylvania (1957) and Connecticut (1958). By 2024, there were 24 Bruderhof communities in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, Paraguay, and Australia, operating under the U.S.-based Church Communities International.
The Bruderhof describes itself as an evangelical Anabaptist community following early Christian principles. Members hold no private property; all income is pooled for communal needs and outreach. Adult baptism and vows, usually after age 21, commit members’ lives and possessions to the church. The group upholds strict sexual ethics, sees marriage as a lifelong union of one man and one woman, and rejects divorce and remarriage. Members dress plainly, with women wearing head coverings.
Children attend Bruderhof-run schools until 18, when they may choose to leave. The community is cautious with technology, using cars and modern businesses but avoiding TVs and home internet. Some members, however, create video blogs about community life.
Some former members have accused The Bruderhof of harsh discipline, including public shaming. The group denies using derogatory language and says isolating children as punishment ended in 1975. Critics have also challenged its gender roles and strict sexual teachings. In 2002, a former member who attempted suicide described undergoing an “exorcism,” which The Bruderhof called a prayer service, not a substitute for medical care.
Key Sources:
Akass, B. A. (2020, March 10). Bruderhof: My dark past growing up in a rural English commune. BBC News.
Cornwell, M. (2019, July 17. Meet the Bruderhof: Our exclusive peek inside a modern Christian utopia. Premier Christianity.
Dreher, R. (2019, November 13). Life among the Bruderhof. The American Conservative.
Jones, K. G., & Randall, I. M. (2008). Counter-Cultural communities: Baptistic Life in Twentieth-Century Europe.
Randall, I. M. (2018). A Christian peace experiment: The Bruderhof Community in Britain.
Wollaston, S. (2019, July 23). “Just don’t call it a cult”: the strangely alluring world of the Bruderhof. The Guardian.
Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religious Movements 