Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
women who found their way to the community after 1923 were more important
for Eberhard’s life, and were for their part more deeply affected by him, than
all the distinguished friends and well-intentioned supporters on the outside.
Many people lived in community with Eberhard and his family for at least a few
years. Many others, like the following three, joined Eberhard and the Bruderhof
community for the rest of their lives:
Irmgard Wegner belonged to the Neuwerk group in Hannover in 1921. Her
introduction to Eberhard came through reading his articles in Das Neue Werk. Then
she heard him lecture at the Hannover YMCA. After attending the Pentecost
conference at Schlüchtern in 1923, Irmgard came across an advertisement for
help in the publishing house, and she applied for a job. Committing herself for one
year, she became responsible for Eberhard’s correspondence. “He was thorough
and exact, but without pedantry,” she said. Eberhard expected of her, as of all other
coworkers, a complete dedication and joy in the work, but at the same time she
came to know him as a considerate and observant friend. Later, Irmgard Wegner
married Karl “Roland” Keiderling, who had come to Sannerz in November 1922.
She worked as a secretary at Eberhard’s side until his death. To the very end of
her own life in 1995 the memories of her twelve years of work close to Eberhard
remained fresh and alive.
Arno Martin worked in the Dresden YMCA, where he belonged to a youth
movement group. In February of 1925 he heard Eberhard give a lecture at St. Ann’s
Hall in Dresden – and what a message he heard! Eberhard spoke straight from the
heart, sometimes leaving the podium to go into the audience, take a doubter by
the shoulders, and ask him face to face what he thought. Finally Eberhard became
so heated that he took off his jacket – an unheard-of thing to do in those days.
Eighteen months later at a Free German conference Arno and Eberhard met
again. Eberhard invited the young man to help with the construction work at the
Rhön Bruderhof. Arno accepted, knowing immediately that there would be no
turning back. During Advent of 1926 he arrived in Sannerz with only a rucksack
and the clothes he was wearing. By 1927 he was already a brotherhood member,
and he was baptized on July 27, 1928, at the Rhön Bruderhof. Arno often drove
Eberhard in the carriage to and from the railway station. The half-hour trip was
long enough for heart-to-heart talks. Soon Eberhard was simply “Papa” to Arno
Martin, too.
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Walter Hüssy originally belonged to the Freischar,
a religious-socialist youth group that had been in contact with the Neuwerk
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