Mary Ann Kirkby, centre, toured Europe with Nella Tschetter (left) and Analisa Tschetter. They are pictured at a recent branding at the Winding River Hutterite Colony near Prince Albert. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

History on Youtube

P.A. YouTube channel aims to connect missing pieces of 400-year-old Hutterite history

Jun 28, 2024 | 4:15 PM

In their early years, Hutterites were doctors to kings, makers of wine and pottery so fine it was desired and collected by the wealthy citizens of Moravia in the present-day Czech Republic.

Politics and persecution changed that however, and modern Hutterites have been disconnected from their early roots, just as European historians were unaware any Hutterites had survived until about 50 years ago.

In Prince Albert, author Mary Ann Kirkby is doing her best to connect the two halves, starting in Auspitz, Czech Republic.

“This is where the first colony in the world was established,” Kirkby said. “The community decided that they would invite the Hutterites back to recognize the wrong and to say, you are welcome.”

Kirkby was born Hutterite and left (that’s the story in her book ‘I am Hutterite’) and now stands with a foot in two worlds.

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She has noticed the gap in knowledge her people have of their history and a gap in understanding between Hutterites and mainstream society.

“That’s the downfall, where Hutterites themselves don’t know their rich history and outsiders don’t either. That always causes suspicion or assumptions and misperceptions.”

Enter technology and Kirkby’s passion for the written word translated to video.

The Hutterite Storyteller is a new project that she hopes will help close both gaps. In a series of videos on the YouTube channel, Kirkby plans to share the available history and lifestyle of the Hutterites.

When Kirkby was invited by the Mayor of Auspitz to accept an apology for the killing and expulsion of thousands of Hutterites, she collected a grant from Pattison Agriculture and some travelling companions.

She found two enterprising cousins from the Winding River Colony east of Prince Albert and went on a tour of the places Hutterites lived centuries ago.

Nella Tschetter, Analisa Tschetter and Kirkby spent weeks travelling from Germany and Austria to the Czech Republic and on to northern Italy. Jakob Hutter, the group’s founder, was from Tyrol, in northern Italy and the people who would later become his followers adopted his Tyrolean (a cousin of Bavarian German) dialect as their language.

At a museum in Budapest with a collection of Hutterite artifacts, the local historians were learners instead of teachers when Nella and Analisa could read the Sütterlin in preserved texts from 400 years ago. It was thought to be a mainly lost language.

Historians in Budapest were a little surprised when the Tschetter cousins could read texts of what they had thought was a lost language. (submitted/Mary Ann Kirkby)

“They burned wagons full of books, but they didn’t burn them because it was considered an art,” said Nella. “We still write in that language, but they lost it because the Catholic church banned them from using that.”

The lost books are of special interest to modern Hutterites, Kirkby explained.

“The most fascinating thing for Hutterite elders was our confiscated books. We were not allowed to touch them, but the girls could still read them,” she said.

The books helped fill in some of the history lost over centuries of avoiding persecution because of their chosen communal and pacifist lifestyle.

Some of the pieces of dinnerware are valued at $16,000 each so the museum staff closed that portion of the display just so the Canadian visitors could look more closely.

In Moravia, Hutterites were known for their craftsmanship. Some pieces are valued at around $16,000 today. (submitted/Mary Ann Kirkby)

The layout of preserved Hutterite communities in Europe that have been unoccupied for centuries was still very familiar to the three women who knew exactly what the buildings were for.

“You could tell by the way they treasure the things they find out about them,” Nella said.

Hutterites were well-known for their wine-making abilities – and still are – and were the ones to introduce the art of growing vineyards in the areas they settled. The three visitors from Canada found a wine named for Jakob Hutter there.

Hutterites settled in areas like Slovakia, Hungary and Transylvania but were still pursued by authorities, with the remnants ending up hiding in caves to survive. After a century in Russia, they fled along with many of the Mennonites, coming to North America to avoid military conscription. Both groups are pacifist.

It was not until the Hutterites fled to Russia/Ukraine that they became a primarily agricultural society. That was done as a matter of survival.

The Hutterites were so valued in Moravia for decades that community members still call it the golden years. It was only political changes that drove them out.

“Here we have 100 and 400 member communities with buildings, livestock and an incredible amount of goods and, you know, have settled on this land and counted for 25 per cent of the population,” said Mary Ann Kirkby,

The communal Hutterite lifestyle made them the engines of the economy at that time.

An aerial view of the only remaining Hutterite colony buildings remaining in Moravia (Czech. Republic). Colonies still use similar layouts for their buildings. (submitted/Mary Ann Kirkby)

Education has always been a priority and it was Hutterites who created the concept of kindergarten and ensured that girls and boys were educated. Their children are taught in English and German to this day.

Because of their distinctive dress, many Canadians think that Hutterite women are downtrodden and meek. Nothing could be further from the truth, Kirkby pointed out.

The women and girls of Winding River Hutterite Colony near Birch Hills. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

The women have a strong voice that is heard and listened to by the men. The communal lifestyle means they all work together and eat together, but each family gets a private residence.

The three women were asked to give a Power Point presentation on their trip by Bishop Joe Wurz of the Hillsvale Colony near North Battleford, a highlight that made them very nervous.

“Terrifying” was how Nella and Analisa described speaking in public in front of 600 Hutterite audience members.

But the audience hung on every word, as eager to learn about the past as Analisa, Nella and Kirkby were.

Both Nella and Analisa feel that more Hutterites should visit their origins. It helped them see themselves and there community in a different light.

Nella and Analisa Tschetter at Tschermakowitz, the only Hutterite colony of the 104 in Moravia that wasn’t destroyed.

“We really respect and follow our elders and it feels like the same connections like it felt at home. So this is our home, obviously it would feel the same. But we felt their spirit in everything that we see.”

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com