Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
which requires that members submit themselves completely and crucify every bit
of self-will.
“The secret of true self-determination lies in the freedom that results from
surrendering oneself to the whole,” wrote Eberhard in the name of the community
household in October 1925. “Martyrdom by fire is the essence of community
life: the daily sacrifice of all powers and all rights, and all the other claims that
people usually make on life and take for granted.” To the skeptical question of
how anyone can voluntarily accept such a life, Eberhard provided an illuminating
and complete answer. “The motivating force does not come from us as people. We
were driven – and we continue to be driven. We act and continue to act because we
are compelled to do so.” 26
movE to thE rhön
After the Brauns’ arrival in 1924 the Sannerz community continued to grow. Soon
the villa had become too small. “We want to move from here and to move quickly,”
Eberhard wrote to a friend early in 1926. “We do not yet know where to go, but we
see clearly that our time and our task here are coming to an end. We hope to find a
place in the Jena district or, in all events, in central Germany.” 27 The search for a new
home was underway. For a while Eberhard eyed a property in Schätzendorf on the
edge of the Lüneburger moors, but this came to nothing. 28 On a visit to Sannerz a
certain Traugott von Stackelberg offhandedly mentioned to Eberhard that the spa
house at Bad Boll was up for sale. Von Stackelberg was enthusiastic about the idea
of the Sannerz household carrying on the work of Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt,
but Eberhard rejected this idea: “There are plenty of Christian institutions. What
we want is a community of families that is founded on Christ.” 29
Not until late summer did hopes solidify into concrete reality. Near the small
town of Neuhof a few miles northeast of Sannerz a large but neglected farm was
for sale, the Hansehof. It was the largest of a group of seven farms in the Rhön
region, known as the Sparhöfe.
The Sannerz community decided on the purchase without having any idea
where the full payment of 26,000 marks would come from. Eberhard declared it
“a step in faith” when he signed the contract in Fulda on November 19, 1926, with
only the ten thousand marks for the down payment in hand. 30
As far as Eberhard and the other members of the Sannerz Neuwerk cooperative
were concerned, the move to the Rhön was not the most important event to
take place that winter. More important, because of its irrevocable nature, was
137