A Loaf of Hahn Bread

In the communal era of the Amana Colonies, there were bakeries in each village to supply the communal kitchens for the many meals they served to the villagers and workers. 

One such bakery was The Hahn bakery that still exists today since 1927, with much of the same equipment such as the brick hearth oven.

Hahn bread is popular in the colonies and with the tourists. 140 loaves are turned out for the day beginning at midnight when the oven is heated for two hours. In the meantime, the dough is prepared, once done by hand, now by machine.

The brick hearth oven is also modernized run with propane gas instead of wood fire.  After two hours the heat is turned off, leaving heat from the hot bricks to bake the bread.  The dough which was once from large West and Amana grist mills is now made of flour from Wisconsin and has no preservatives. The 30 pounds of dough made for the day is for white, wheat, and rye bread. A sweet dough is made for coffee cakes (filled or unfilled) and cinnamon rolls. All dough is cut and mixed (until 1961) by hand after it rises an hour. Five batches are made on Friday nights for Saturday morning. Success in the dough comes from the lukewarm milk to keep the yeast alive. These original German recipes and techniques are still used as in 1927 bakery in the 1864 house. My friend and I had a great experience with Jack Hahn filling pans with dough, preparing for a busy Oktoberfest weekend in the 70's.  The raspberry, apricot and cinnamon coffee cakes, white and rye bread were favorites of many that must be bought early before it sells out!

Amana Colony Recipes Cookbook

The Homestead Welfare Club founded about 1919, published this popular cookbook in 1948-49 to help preserve recipes used in the communal kitchens before 1932. It was based on hardy, family style recipes to serve 30- 40 people but later revised to serve families of four. The recipes are of a wide variety-everyday, holiday,and those inspired by The Orient, rich in spices, fruit and nuts, as well as dishes from the ancestors in Europe. All were designed to take full advantage of present day Iowa harvests. Menus for the summer and winter season, special occasions, and evening meals are also shared in the book.
The illustrations represent scenes from old community kitchens, the brick hearth, the long, wooden sink,  large cooking pots, and baskets in which food was carried home.  The cover depicts old indigo Amana blue cotton prints, used for everyday dresses and aprons, that was resist dyed in the woolen mills.
 The cookbook funds helped pave streets and set up sewer systems in Homestead. It was a very popular cookbook compiled by the club volunteers. It has been reprinted many times  and still sold today. Look for it in local Antique Shops and general stores. The club will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary this year, 2019.

Labels

The first known labels showed up around 1700 as seen on small medical containers and wine bottles. Wooden presses were used to make the paper labels that were then glued to products. In 1798 the process changed with onset of lithography. From 1850 to 1860 color printing improved to make creative labels selling products better. In 1935 the self adhesive labels changed the industry even more. In the 1960's new adhesives did even more advancement in the industry. In the 70's electronic labels made it possible to hold lots of information on the labels with the bar code.
Amana labels and logos have changed with the times and over the years while symbolizing " core Amana values, growth, and longevity" and dedication to the craft. Many early products from calico fabric to refrigerators proudly donned the Amana label.

AHS and Schulte photos

The Tin Colander

The colander was a very important tool handmade  by the  local  Amana tinsmith.  It was used extensively  in the old Amana communal kitchens to handle large quanties of food that needed to be drained. The large, bowl shaped  utensil had holes on the bottom, usually in a star or flower pattern, a base, and handles, all hand applied. The perforated bottom  allowed  liquid  to  drain through while retaining the solids as vegetables and fruits inside. This was one tool that made all the difference  in old Amana communal kitchens while prepping  food. The large size made it very useful and appealing.  The Colanders were sometimes called sieves from the Latin word colum meaning sieve.

Brick Walls with Stories

The architecture of Amana is quite unique as you look at the brick,
sandstone walls, foundations, chimneys and rabbats. Early masters of the methods and materials used in Amana looked to local resources especially in these rural areas. The quality and texture of the clay, sands, limestone and fires in the kilns all factored in for a better construction. The look, feel and location of a good clay made a difference in the bricks. Shrinkage and closeness to the heat determined the size of the bricks. Size and weight of bricks were important in construction of exterior and interior walls and chimneys. Often soft bricks were used on interior walls. Color was also an important factor in design to keep architecture color consistent in the Amanas. Before 1760, American  brickmakers tended to use  salmon colored bricks for interiors. The exterior walls were a darker, harder brick and held up well to the elements. Other great characteristics of the brick were the finger or animal paw prints, straw marks, and brick layering marks left behind while bricks were drying in the open drying beds. The mortar, the glue that held the bricks together, was also carefully thought out. Mortar production also occurred near its construction site. Great skill and knowledge of mortar materials and recipes was required for the process of the brick laying. A modified Three-to-One bond pattern method was often used in Amana. Three-six rows the side if the brick, one row of the front of the brick shows, and pattern repeats. Mortar had to be laid evenly to compensate for the irregularly of handmade bricks in order for these buildings to withstand time. These Amana structures are a lasting legacy to the artistry of our early brickmakers.

Spent Grain Bread

In old Amana communal days very little was wasted. A use was found for almost every kind of scrap. That tradition carries over today in a local, oldest in Iowa, brewery where they make bread from grain leftover from making beer, called spent grain.  Spent grains have nutrients and flavors after their sugars have coverted to beer.  The grain is added to regular dough to add protien and texture. It makes  a hearty, somewhat sweet, healthy loaf of bread.  In Germany, Monks used to work with fermented grains for certain types of religeous atonement.  Their bread was called Biertreberbrot.  A wonderful, creative,  local bread you must try!

The Archives

A stately building, the Archives sits by itself, against a beautiful sky, holding special words of its founders. These words were to be read and spread as the word of God.  The original founders of the Community of True Inspiration were quite prolific printers, even bringing printing presses and books with them from Germany, across the Atlantic to Enenezer, N.Y. and finally Amana. They printed their own books used for worship and religious study as they contained thoughts and ideas of early church leaders. Also, childrens books, ledgers, Sunday School books, and business operation documents were  printed. Many of these artifacts survived the orginal journey or were donated and stored in the church archives as some  pre date 1714, the founding date of the Community of True Inspiration. Many are printed with the old German script so had to be transcribed and translated. Lots of these papers coordinate with and inspired the historical and digital archives, with its at least eight different geneology research subjects, at the Amana Heritage Museum today.