Volume 26 No 1 • Winter 2016–2017 A Trip to the Haslibacher Farm Mark Louden The Emmental valley his summer I had the good Mennonite, Amish, Brethren, and fortune to visit the Em- Hutterite churches today trace their INSIDE mental, a valley located in roots back to what is known as the Tthe eastern part of Canton Berne, Anabaptist movement. In the early • Friends Annual Meeting in Switzerland, through which the 16th century, as the Reformation was Milwaukee Emme River flows. The Emmental is getting underway across Central • Handwritten Letters and Family perhaps most famous for its cheese and Western Europe, a number of Histories (Emmentaler Käse), which is an Christians distanced themselves from • International Symposium: important ingredient in classic Swiss the teachings of prominent reform- fondue. Among Amish and Menno- ers such as Martin Luther, Huldrych People of Faith, Voices of nites, especially those living in North Zwingli, and John Calvin by advo- Tradition America, however, the Emmental cating believer’s (adult) baptism, • Ersatz Kaffee Ads from the occupies a central place in the his- separation of church and state, and World War I Period tory of their spiritual ancestors. nonresistance (rejecting violence in Continued on page 4 DIRECTOR’S CORNER Greetings, Friends and Readers! est wishes from the Max terite German, Mennonite Low Ger- public—is on pages 8 and 9 of this Kade Institute! Our spring man, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Yid- Newsletter, and additional informa- semester has gotten off to dish. The evening of Thursday, March tion can be found on our website. Ba great start. Many thanks to all of 30, will feature a keynote panel of Finally, I would like to express my you, our Friends, who renewed your native speakers who will participate gratitude to my fellow MKI staff, As- memberships and for your ongoing in a moderated discussion about how sociate Director Antje Petty, Librar- support of our Institute, especially these languages are interwoven into ian/Archivist Kevin Kurdylo, and our campaign to secure the posi- their lives. On Friday, March 31, and Department Administrator Hope tion of our Librarian/Archivist. We the morning of Saturday, April 1, we Hague, for all they do on behalf of are especially grateful to those who will have nine presentations on the our patrons, including students and responded to our fall appeal, which history and present situation of these other members of the University raised over $25,000. Thanks to your heritage languages, all of which are in community, as well as researchers generosity, we are moving closer to a robust state of health because of the from across the state and around the our goal. exponential growth of the communi- world. The continued success of our In February we were excited to ties that use them. Friday evening’s Institute is due to their hard work, welcome Herbert Quelle, Consul highlight will be readings of origi- creativity, and service in the spirit General of the Federal Republic of nal poetry and prose in Hutterite of the Wisconsin Idea. Thanks very Germany in Chicago, for a lecture German, Mennonite Low German, much to them, and to all our Friends entitled “The German Harmonica Pennsylvania Dutch, and Yiddish, for your support! and African-American Blues.” In with English translations provided. Mark addition to being a career diplomat, Among the symposium’s presenters Consul Quelle is an expert on the are guests from Germany, Canada, history of the harmonica and also an and the United States, including two accomplished blues player. His lec- from Amish and Hutterite commu- ture featured selections from his new nities. The program for this sympo- book, Monika’s Blues: On the Trail of sium—which is free and open to the the German Harmonica and African- American Blues Culture (NCSA Literatur, 2017). Board of Directors, Friends of the Max Kade Institute The high point of our programming Hans Bernet Vice President, Monroe this spring will be our international Karen Fowdy Monroe symposium, “People of Faith, Voices Steven Geiger Wausau of Tradition: Germanic Heritage Edward Langer Nashotah Languages among Christians and Mark Louden ex officio, Sun Prairie Fran Luebke, Brookfield Jews,” which will take place on the Antje Petty ex officio, Fitchburg Madison campus March 30–April 1, John Pustejovsky President, Whitefish Bay 2017. This symposium will look at Luanne von Schneidemesser Treasurer, Madison Germanic languages actively spoken Johannes Strohschänk Eau Claire Pamela Tesch Secretary, Oconomowoc by traditional Anabaptist Christian Bill Thiel Eau Claire and Jewish communities in North Don Zamzow Schofield America: Amish Swiss German, Hut- 2 Explore German Art in Milwaukee with the Friends! Friends of MKI Annual Meeting Sunday, May 7 This year’s Friends of the Max Kade Institute Annual Meeting will take us to Milwaukee, where we will learn about the magnificent German art treasures that have been collected in the city for well over 150 years. Our day will begin with a private, guided tour of the German art collection at the Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM), where after major renovations a thousand works of art have been added to the galleries. Our day will continue with the annual meeting and a dinner at the Envoy Restaurant in the historic Ambassador Inn Hotel, an Art Deco icon. We will conclude the evening with a lecture entitled “German Art, American City: The Fishman Collection in Milwaukee’s Museums” by Curtis L. Carter, Professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics at Marquette University. 2:00 – 3:00 Tour of German Art at Milwaukee Art Museum (700 N. Art Museum Drive, Milwaukee) 3:00 – 4:00 Opportunity to explore the museum on your own; drive to Envoy Restaurant 4:00 – 5:00 Annual Business Meeting at the Envoy Restaurant (Ambassador Hotel, 2308 W Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee) 5:00 – 5:30 Socializing 5:30 – 6:30 Dinner 6:30 – 7:30 Lecture: Curtis L. Carter, Marquette University REGISTRATION REQUIRED Please go to the MKI Friends website mkifriends.org/annual-meetings, fill out a registration form, sign up for the tour, and choose one of two meal options. Pay online or mail your registration with payment by April 21! Further details, including directions and parking information, can be found at mkifriends.org/annual-meetings or contact Antje Petty at the Max Kade Institute (608-262-7546 or [email protected]). Cost Tour of the Milwaukee Art Museum: $12 per person (includes museum admission for the day) Dinner: $35 per person Bring a friend — make a Friend! Dinner purchase includes Friends of the MKI membership for the year 2017 for new Friends. 3 Continued from page 1 leader in the Sumiswald region in (likely) descendant of Haslibacher, the Emmental who was persecuted a man coincidentally named Hans all its forms, including military ser- by state authorities for decades. On Haslebacher (a long-accepted spell- vice. In Switzerland, these Christians, October 20, 1571, he was beheaded ing variation) and his wife Gertrud, known at first as the Swiss Brethren, in the center of the city of Berne. who grew up in the nearby town of were dubbed Wiedertäufer (literally Haslibacher’s story is recounted in a Langnau, still home to an Anabaptist “re-baptizers”) by scornful authori- 32-stanza poem composed shortly congregration founded in the 16th ties, since the first among them to after his death, which later served century. The Haslebachers, in addi- baptize each other had already been as the text of a hymn that is sung tion to farming, rent out a vacation baptized as infants. Adult baptism to this day by the Amish of North apartment (Ferienwohnung) on the made Anabaptists dangerous heretics America. In that poem one learns property and are well aware of the in the eyes of the state, which relied that Haslibacher foretold that God historical significance of their farm. on infant baptism as a way of keeping would send three signs of his inno- They welcome many visitors every track of their subjects, including for cence upon his execution: his severed year, mostly Amish and Mennonites military conscription and taxation. head would laugh at his persecutors, from the United States and Canada. Despite extreme persecution, in- the sun would turn red, and blood On the day I visited with my friends, cluding loss of property, imprison- would flow in the town well. Legend we struck up a conversation with ment, torture, and execution, the has it that all three signs came to Frau Haslebacher, who invited us Anabaptist movement grew rapidly pass. What is certain is that Hans into their private quarters for coffee. in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Haslibacher was the last Anabaptist Soon after, Herr Haslebacher joined Low Countries, Germany, and Swit- martyr in Canton Berne. us, and they both shared stories of zerland, including the Emmental. The Hans Haslibacher farm is their family history and their visit a To the present, this region is viewed still a working farm owned by a few years ago to Lancaster County, by Swiss from other parts of Canton Berne and elsewhere as a kind of backwater, a region dominated by stubborn, unsophisticated rural- dwellers. The popularity of Anabap- tism in the Emmental helped feed that stereotype. Many modern Swiss, including many Bernese, know little of Ana- baptist history, in part because it har- kens back to an era of severe religious intolerance and cruelty. The stories of this time are quite familiar to Amish and Mennonites in North America, however, and many travel every year to the Emmental, particularly to visit sites of historical significance. I vis- ited several of them with two Swiss friends this summer, including a farm once owned by a Swiss Anabap- tist named Hans Haslibacher.