Against the Wind: Eberhard Arnold and the Bruderhof - Plough

Against the Wind
on the eternal truth – not yet in its fullness among us – and to rouse and strengthen
on all sides the understanding for justice and truth…We believe in the victory of the
creative powers of love. 26
At the same time Mohr introduced for discussion a statement attempting to
define the relationship between the Free German Union and the community then
living in Sannerz. He cited the collaboration between the two groups: “The Free
German Union has entered into close cooperation with the work of Eberhard
Arnold and the Sannerz group. The Free German Union believes the hour has
come to witness to the contemporary world by work and deed to the ultimate
reality of the living church.” This achieved a previously inconceivable agreement
and degree of trust. It enabled Eberhard – actually, it compelled him – to go a step
further.
In the summer of 1926 Mohr suggesed the formation of a Free German
Brotherhood, “which would bring together all Free Germans who confess a living
faith in Christ.” 27 This step was intended to overcome the lack of commitment
and the deliberate haziness in the basic principles of the Free German Union – to
get down to brass tacks and to be able to say not just “church,” but the “church of
Jesus Christ”; not just “kingdom,” but “the kingdom of God.” Moreover, this step
would extend beyond the narrow circle of the Free German Union. As Eberhard
envisioned it the Free German Brotherhood would be open to Free Germans in
other youth movement groups too. It was a stimulating and highly interesting
proposition, but also a provocative one: a Free German Brotherhood would mean
a fellowship within a fellowship – shock troops, an elite guard.
Next to Erich Mohr, seventeen-year-old Hans-Joachim Schoeps was Eberhard’s
fieriest supporter of the proposed Free German Brotherhood. Schoeps was a
German Jew and, despite his youth, was already a driving force in the Free German
movement. In the next few years he would find his Jewish identity and would later
be acknowledged as a notable scholar of religion – all by way of the Free Germans
and the “spirit of Christian love” that he encountered while with Eberhard in
Sannerz and the Rhön Bruderhof. 28
The Free German Brotherhood took shape at an October 1926 meeting. Hans-
Joachim Schoeps promoted it among the Free German youth groups, declaring
that “all who feel spiritual affinity with the Free German Brotherhood must feel
themselves pledged to bring the spirit of brotherhood and love into all areas of
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