From the early days in the Reformation, the Amish were connected to the Anabaptist movement. This article discusses some of the other groups that are connected to the Amish and the Anabaptists in some way. So what is an Anabaptist?1 In 1519 Ulrich Zwingli became the leitpriester (the people’s priest) of the Gross Muenster Church …
One of the first places we visited in Switzerland was Zurich. Although Zurich has a lot of attractions for the average visitor; we were interested in the religious history of the place. The Anabaptist heritage to some degree is rooted here in Zurich and especially in the Grossmünster. Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) was a leader of …
The scene here is along the Limmat River. This is the other side of the river as seen from the side where the plaque is that commemorates the drownings of early Anabaptist reformers. And the Grossmunster is in the background on the right. But I wanted to show you some art. Yes. The crane. …
I felt it was important enough to draw attention to this fact about Castle Trachselwald. I had said and thought I was correct for most of our trip since visiting Castle Trachselwald that it was also the home of people living there. Although that may have been the case at one time, it is not …
As you drive up the long driveway in the Jura Mountains in southern France up to the Graber Ancestral home at Mont-Prevoir; this is your first view. It is also the view that my uncle Ora Graber had put in his book, The Graber Immigrants 1650-1984. The place is currently a working dairy farm. The …
Hans Haslebacher was born near Sumiswald around 1500 and lived in this house which is not far from there in Kleinegg. Direct descendants of him still live in the house today and run the farm and dairy at that location. If you are Amish, Ex-Amish or are familiar with Anabaptist history, this name should ring …
There is a farmhouse on up the mountain from Trub, Switzerland that provided a hiding place for Anabaptists in that area. We drove on past Trub and Fankhaus and kept going up the mountain. Finally we reached this little farm. The building is typical for Switzerland as the house and the barn are in the …
We drove past Trub on the way to Hinterhütten and on the way back we stopped to look around, shoot some footage and eat a bite of lunch. As with most of the villages, the church here is in the center of the village. It is a Reformed State Church which seems to be very …
We visited the castle called Trachselwald which is located near a village called Trachselwald and Sumiswald. NOTE: In an earlier edition of this blog post I stated that there are private residences here and people live here. Even though it appeared so, nobody lives here now. Plans by the board that holds this treasure are …
We visited the village and the museum at Schleitheim, seen here from the hills above the village. This area was the home of many Wiedertaufer (Anabaptists) and many over the years were driven from their homes and prosecuted for not agreeing with the church that was in power. Michael Sattler was an early Wiedertaufer (Anabaptist) …