History and Culture
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A small group of dedicated persons in Zurich, Switzerland, began to study the Gospels seriously and to propose reforms to the heads of state churches. Conrad Grebel, a nobleman by birth, had attended the universities of Basel, Paris, and Vienna. Felix Manz knew Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and spent much of his time preaching without authorization from the state, an action for which he was often put in prison. George Blaurock was educated for priesthood. These men came to believe that the name “Christian” should be applied only to those who truly practiced the teachings of Jesus, and not indiscriminately to all who observed such state church rituals as infant baptism and the Mass. Their reform were rejected first by Ulrich Zwingli, head of the Swiss state (Reformed) church, and later by Zurich City Council, and they were ordered not to disturb the unity of the church. But the Small group continued to meet secretly for Bible study and prayer. With full knowledge that they might be bought to trial by state authorities, they baptized one another as missioners to proclaim their newly founded “believers’ church.” This church was to be separate from the state and membership was to be voluntary, free from the hierarchy and coercive power of the old church. Strong emphasis was placed on obedience to the words of Jesus, his teaching of love and nonresistance, and the imitation of his life and character. Christ was present not in the sacraments, they said, but in the body of believers who lived redemptive lives and practiced his teaching.

The Amish division of the Swiss Mennonites owes its existence as well as its name to the elder of Markirch (Sainte Marie-aux-Mines), Jacob Ammann. Little is known of him except that he was born in Switzerland and later migrated to Alsace, where he became an elder and a spokesman for Anabaptists who had moved to that region. He is presumed to have left Switzerland in 1693 or earlier. In a state document of 1696 he is cited as the spokesman for a group of members in the Alsatian area who were seeking exemption from military.

Two Amishmen, Shem and David Zook, wrote in 1830: “The birthplace of Jacob Aymen we have not ascertained, nor yet the exact place of his residence-having never considered him a man of note, we do not deem the place of his nativity a matter of consequence.” In writing for his local newspaper in 1936, Eli J. Bontreger observed that the Amish church was observing its fourth hundredth anniversary. The occasion was the year Menno Simons turned from the Catholic priesthood to become an Anabaptist preacher.

Lancaster Country, the location of the most densely populated Amish community in Pennsylvania today, contained three separate settlements in the eighteenth century. “Old” or “West Conestoga,” mentioned in Amish writings and believed to have been occupied by some Amish as early as the founding of Northkill settlement, is located in Manheim and Upper Leacock townships. According to some accounts, there was also a Cocalico settlement, concentrated in East and West Cocalico townships and the nearby townships of Brecknock and Clay. This area is north of Ephrata and would have been near the Tulpehocken Amish in Berks County. The Amish may have settled here as early as 1742. In later years this area was occupied by Mennonite families. The “Lower Pequea” settlement around Whitehorse, Compass, and Honeybrook (largely in Salisbury Township) grew as the Berks County group declined before the close of the eighteenth century.

Today there are no Amish congregations in Europe that have retained the name and practices of the original group. The group’s descendants in Europe have reunited with the Mennonites or have otherwise lost their Amish background, but it is only in North America that the name and distinctive practices of the Amish have survived.

The rules of the Amish church cover the whole range of human behavior. In society where keeping the world out is a primary goal, there are many taboos, and customs become symbolic, although they vary from one community to another. The most universal Amish norms in the United States and Canada are: no high-line electricity, telephones, central heating systems; no automobiles; no tractors with pneumatic tires; beards are for all married men, but moustaches are not allowed. Required are long hair (covering part of the ear for men, uncut for women), hooks and eyes on dress coats, and the use of horses for farming. No formal education beyond the elementary grades is a rule of life, but there are infrequent exceptions to this rule.

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