The Lehrerleut, also Lehrerleit, are a branch of the

Hutterite Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...

s that emerged in 1877. They are the most traditional branch of the Hutterites.

History

Thirteen Hutterite families under the leadership of Jacob Wipf (1835–1896) emigrated from Johannesruh, Ukraine, to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

in 1877, where they after their arrival formed the Lehrerleut by establishing a community of goods at Elmspring Colony near

Parkston, South Dakota Parkston is a city in Hutchinson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census. As of 2022, Adam Doering is the city's current mayor. History The city was named for R. S. Parke, a landowner. Parkston was f ...

, thus following the example of the

Schmiedeleut The Schmiedeleut, also Schmiedeleit, are a branch of the Hutterites that emerged in 1859. It is divided into two subgroups. Name The founder of the Schmiedeleut, Michael Waldner (1834–1889), was a blacksmith and therefore called "Schmied Mi ...

and the

Dariusleut The Dariusleut, also Dariusleit, are a branch of the Hutterites that emerged in 1860. History Russian Empire In 1859, Michael Waldner and Jakob Hofer (1830–1900) successfully reestablished a community of goods among some Hutterites in Hutte ...

. The group's leader was a teacher (German: ''Lehrer''), hence their name ''Lehrerleut'' ("teacher people"). Shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, two Hutterite

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s from the Lehrerleut branch,

Joseph and Michael Hofer Joseph and Michael Hofer were brothers who died from mistreatment at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth in 1918. The pair, who were Hutterites from South Dakota, were among four conscientious objectors from their Christian co ...

, died in an American prison. This and growing

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as Anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, its culture, or its language. Its opposite is Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment largely began with t ...

caused the emigration of all four Lehrerleut colonies to

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, in the following years. In 1945, the Lehrerleut started to form new colonies in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, thus returning to the United States.

Demography

In 1957 there were 20 Lehrerleut colonies in Alberta, 3 in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and 8 in

. In 1973 the total number of Lehrerleut colonies was 61. According to the "2004 Hutterite Phone Book" there were 69 Schmiedeleut colonies in Alberta and 30 in Saskatchewan. An additional 44 colonies were in Montana, all together 143. Rod Janzen and Max Stanton report in their book of 2010 that there were 139 Lehrerleut colonies, 72 in Alberta, 32 Saskatchewan and 35 in Montana.Rod Janzen and Max Stanton: ''The Hutterites in North America'', Baltimore, MD, 2010, page 55.

References

{{reflist

External links

hutterites.org
the website of the Hutterian Brethren (Schmiedeleut 1) Hutterites German diaspora Anabaptist denominations Anabaptism

History

Demography

References

Further reading

External links