Welcome

Click on the "View" buttons below to view each section
of the Bruderhofer (Society of Brothers) bibliography

Click here to go to the Hutterite Bibliography.

Bruderhofers - General Information

Eberhard Arnold (1883-1935) founded the communal Bruderhof movement (also known as The Society of Brothers) in the 1920s in Germany. He was influenced by the Hutterian Brethren and visited Hutterite colonies in the United States and Canada in 1930-1931. He was ordained by the Hutterites as an elder of the Rhonbruderhof in Germany. After Eberhard Arnold's death in 1935, the Nazis forced the pacifist Bruderhof out of Germany in 1937. They emigrated to the Netherlands, then to England, and eventually to Paraguay and other locations. Although they have similar theologies, the Bruderhof have experienced a strained relationship with Hutterian communities in the U.S. and Canada. Bruderhofers follow Hutterite practices regarding dress, discipline and education, but they have different attitudes toward such things as music and their relationship with the larger world community. Their relationship with the Hutterian Brethren became extremely strained in the 1950s. In the 1970s expressions of regret and repentance on the part of the Bruderhof leadership led to renewed affiliation. However in the 1990s the Society of Brothers' connection with the Hutterian Brethren was completely severed.

Literature about Bruderhofers is often listed under Hutterites or Hutterian Brethren in widely respected bibliographic databases. This situation, along with the theological similarity and historical relationship between the two groups caused me to include this Bruderhofer bibliography.