The Lehrerleut, also Lehrerleit, are a branch of the

Hutterite Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century and have formed intent ...

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, 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 Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

in 1877. After their arrival, they 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, Tim Semmler is the city's current mayor. History The city was named for R. S. Parke, a landowner. Parkston was fou ...

, thus following the example of the Schmiedeleut and the Dariusleut. The group's leader was a teacher (German: ''Lehrer''), hence their name ''Lehrerleut'' ("teacher people"). Shortly after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, two Hutterite

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s from the Lehrerleut branch, Joseph and Michael Hofer, died in an American prison. This and growing

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

caused the emigration of all four Lehrerleut colonies to

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, 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. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

and 8 in

. In 1973 the total number of Lehrerleut colonies was 61. According to the "2004 Hutterite Phone Book" there were 69 Lehrerleut 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 in Canada Hutterites in the United States German diaspora Anabaptist denominations Anabaptism

History

Demography

References

Further reading

External links