Jungfraujoch

This blog begins with an early morning view from our apartment window in Murren, but most of the blog is about our adventure to the top of the Jungfraujoch, about 11,000 feet above sea level. We took the train, which for the last hour or so is almost completely through tunnels in the mountains. I assume they did this to preserve the beauty of the mountains.

The three highest peaks in this region are the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau, translated into English as the Ogre, the Monk, and the Virgin. The monk is between the other two, protecting the Virgin from the Ogre. We went to a tourist wonderland between the Jungfrau and the Monch.

There were of course the up close and incredible views of the glaciers. Then there were the snow disks; we went sledding, and then the boys went skiing as well. Unfortunately we missed the husky rides. Finally there was the ice palace carved out of the glacier. It would have been best to have had ice skates for that.

I hiked across the glacier to the Monchjochhutte, the highest mountain hut in Switzerland. It was a contrast to the touristy happenings at Jungfraujoch. Here German rather than English was the main language. The clientele included those of us who had hiked the 45 minutes across the glacier, and mountaineers who had come by far more difficult means.

In this region English appears to be the first language. So many more people speak English that it is best to start with it rather than German. I am amazed at how international English is and how fortunate some of us are to have it as our native language.

Muerren days

We spent three nights in Murren for pure enjoyment. Murren is in a beautiful location. We first took a train into Lauterbrunnen, and then from there took a cable car up the mountainside to where we got another train to Murren. The mountiains look like they are just outside our window.

On the first day we hike in the area above Murren and found the terrific playground that you see. That was also a good place for lunch. Then we hikee some more, sometimes walking through cow pastures, sometimes with the cows accomanying us. Fortunately I used to hang around cows in my youth, or else they would have been a little too intimidating for us. One time a mother cow bellowed at her youngster to get close, and so we weren't sure what to do while she bellowed, though we at least stayed on the other side of the fence until she had calmed down.

About every hour to half an hour or so we would come across a small farm with a restaurant attached. We could order some ice cream or get something to drink. It is a very civilized way to hike. And then soon enough we would be in a wild section again.

We found a magnificent stream that led into a tremendous waterfall. We enjoyed the beauty of God's creation. The amount of water melting from the glaciers and creating streams into these valleys is unbelievable.

The Amish and Mennonite division

Here is a photo of where we stayed during our time in the Emmental. It is Unter Habegg and is a fairly traditional farm. We stayed in the Stockli, or what the Amish call a Grossdoddy house. That is, once the youngest son takes over the operations of the farm, then his parents move into a small home next to the main farmhouse. From there they help in their retirement. So the Blaser grandparents live on the ground floor and we stayed in what Europeans call the first floor, or the American second floor. It was a cozy place to stay with beautiful woodwork, especially on the ceilings.

The other building is the main farmhouse. Some accuse the Swiss of loving their cows too much, and perhaps part of it is that they live with them. This huge building is both the house and the barn. Since I do not have a wide angle lens, I could only fit the front half of the building into the photo, the human half. Humans live in the front of the house and the back is a barn where the cows stay. That is where the milking is done. Herr Blaser's milk becomes organic Gruyere cheese.

That may not sound like the introduction to the division between Amish and Mennonites but it is. It was in a farmhouse like this, called Fridersmatt, perhaps 15 kilometers from here, where the division between Amish and Mennonites took place.

In previous blogs I have given some background to the division. It was another time of more intense persecution, with the Bernese government confiscating property and exiling Anabaptists. Some would stubbornly return. It was also a time of evangelization. There were new converts to Anabaptism, such as Jacob Ammann's family and my ancestor Isaac Kaufmann's family. Many of these new converts were found in the Bernese Oberland, near Thun, whereas the oldtimers were here in the Emmental, around Langnau. Perhaps part of the new popularity of Anabaptism was from the Pietist movement that emphasized a personal piety and not just going to church for the sake of going to church.

Apparently Hans Reist, an elder among the oldtime Anabaptists, at some point appoints Jacob Ammann an elder. Eventually Ammann moves to what is today France, in Alsace, a German-speaking region, to the town of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines in French, Markirch in German. He manages to successfully sell his property in Switzerland, no small undertaking since the government assumes that all Anabaptist property belongs to it, and buy a farm in Markirch.

In Alsace Ammann is among Anabaptists that some 30 years before had adopted the Dutch Dordrecht confession of faith with its strong emphasis on shunning those excommunicated (2 articles on the subject), its inclusion of footwashing, and its greater emphasis on the authority of individual leaders. Ammann becomes concerned about the way the Anabaptist church seems to be becoming more and more like its neighbors. This might be expected in a place like Alsace where the faith is tolerated. But he also sees problems in Switzerland, where in the face of persecution the church is willing to compromise in order to stay.

We don't know a lot about Ammann, we know even less about his eventual opponent Hans Reist. Some years before he lost his property to the government and was exiled. While in exile he was part of a group that argued that one could graciously accept the aid of the Dutch Anabaptists while at the same time not acknowledging them as siblings in the faith. But Reist returned to Switzerland. He was willing to compromise in order to stay. We have official documents that show elder Hans Reist promising to attend communion at the Reformed church, in effect pretending to be Reformed.

Because of his concerns for the spiritual welfare of the church, Ammann calls the church to more strict discipline. This means observing communion twice a year instead of once. Communion is a time when everyone must examine themselves as to whether they are worthy to commune and whether there are any conflicts that would prevent them.

He also calls the church to a regular practice of footwashing with communion, something that was not part of the Swiss tradition but is found in Dordrecht.

He also believes it is not enough to simply excommunicate sinners, so that they cannot take communion but otherwise are not treated differently. They must be shunned, one should not eat ordinary meals with them either. This is the defining issue of the Amish-Mennonite division, the one that endures.

Ammann also thought leaders should have more authority to make discipline decisions. He became frustrated with the way the other Anabaptist leaders insisted on consulting with their congregations before making decisions. He thought leaders have the spiritual authority to make these decisions. Here again Dordrecht has a higher view of the leaders role than the traditional congregationally based leadership among the Swiss.

Ammann also had a specific case in mind, where a known liar was not excommunicated. He thought this proved his case that discipline was not taken seriously.

A final interesting issue, especially in the context of renewed persecution and Pietism, was the salvation of the true-hearted. The true-hearted, or half-Anabaptists, were neighbors of Anabaptists who were sympathetic to their beliefs and practices but did not become Anabaptist. However, they took many risks to protect Anabaptists from their own government. Reist said that perhaps the true-hearted were saved. Ammann saw this as just another example of how the church was becoming lax and was becoming unwilling to tell the truth.



As Ammann travelled in Switzerland, apparently on a commission from the Alsace Anabaptists, to see where the Swiss Anabaptists stood on these issues, he thought he was finding some sympathy for his concerns. For example Peter Gyger and Niklaus Moser, the owner of Fridersmatt, seemed to agree with him.

However when Ammann spoke to Reist he did not find a sympathetic listener. When Ammann asked about shunning, Reist replied, quoting Jesus, that what enters the mouth does not make one unclean. In other words eating meals with excommunicated people does not make one unclean.

When other leaders saw Reist take such a strong stand against Ammann, they followed. Ammann became frustrated when he called for a second meeting with Reist and he did not attend. So he called for a general meeting to take place at Fridersmatt near Bowil in the Emmental. He gave two weeks notice so that Reist could be there.

I am not sure how many attended but I think it was a crowd. These large Swiss farmhouses would have room for a large group particularly in the barn area . Reist and his closest leaders did not attend. They sent word that they were too busy with farming and so could not make it.

According to the sources, Ammann became enraged. On the spot he excommunicated Reist and those with him. And so the division occurred.

Hinter Hutten, another Anabaptist hiding place

In the afternoon we took the bus from Barau Dorf, close to where we are staying, to Fankhaus Schulhaus, about a 20 minute walk from Hinter Huetten. Hinter Huetten is where there is a barn that has a hidden alcove within it. The boys are standing next to it. This is a place where Anabaptists could hide when the local bailiff was pursuing them.

The current family of the farm, the Fankhauser family, is descended from the builder of the barn and is currently Reformed. But they discovered that some of their ancestors became Anabaptist and that is why they made this hiding place. This place was unknown to the outside world until about 1979, when the owner made public what had been passed on in his family for generations.

The current family has done a fantastic job of creating historical displays in German, French, and English on Anabaptist history. It really was the best I have seen along with Schleitheim. They have also set up a whole series of enterprises, like farmers do in this area as they wait for hikers to pass through their farms. I think I have explained before how you can hike along a trail and then pass through a farm property. Some of these farms open a small restaurant or at least snack bar for those passing through.

So the Fankhausers charge a small admission fee to the historical display in their farmhouse, and then also have a snack area, and finally a souvenirs areas. In each place they have a small basket where you can drop in your money. So it is on the honor system, again a touch that reminds me a lot of Lancaster County Amish.

The displays included the narration of the story of the current farmer's ancestors who were Anabaptist. I appreciated the way this family decided to find the truth about their background. It encouraged me to stay on the trail of Isaac Kaufmann and to continue to find out what I can about him. In the case of the Fankhausers the family still has the farm presumably because some of the children did not become Anabaptist and so were able to inherit the farm. I don't think any of the old Kaufmann farms have Kaufmanns on them anymore. Not that some Kaufmanns didn't return to the Reformed faith.

Middle Ages in Bern

My two younger boys are wild about the Middle Ages, and the Berner Historisches Museum has a Middle Ages park during its exhibition of Charles the Bold. They have three different areas where you can learn about how things were done in the Middle Ages. Of course one of the areas has to do with the military, but the others are clothing and building.

Here you see Jill and the boys using a Middle Ages crane. The power was supplied by people walking in a wheel like a hamster, and they would then lift heavy objects for constructing the great cathedrals of the time. It was quite amazing but to be in the wheel made me dizzy. Not something I would want to do all day. They also demonstrated building arches.

In the other you see us unsuccessfully using a battering ram. We had to give it another try. They also had a catapult that sent soft balls flying. Again I was amazed by the ingenuity and just what was possible before petroleum and electricity became king.

In the third area on clothes we got to wear armor, something the boys liked doing. I also learned something new and interesting. Men and women used to all wear robes, which all of us know from Bible pictures. According to the textile woman at the museum, men began wearing pants as a military innovation. They allowed men to wear armor and to battle more effectively. Eventually, as sometimes happens, this military innovation passed into daily life as well. This makes sense to me, and it would also explain why men wore pants and women did not, since women were not supposed to fight in military battles. So today we might see pants now as a sign of the military. But I suppose I'll stick with them because they are more effective and efficient for a whole number of activities besides battling.

Mennonites of Emmental

Last Saturday we arrived at Langnau im Emmental, the location of the oldest continuing Mennonite church in the world, with its roots going back to 1527. The Langnau congregation is alive and well. I again contacted the President of the congregation and I again was treated with the utmost hospitality by him, as I was treated in Bern.

President Daniel Engel had been a MCC trainee in Ephrata, Pennsylvania and Steinbach, Manitoba. He spoke very good English that he learned from that time, and he said that their congregation hosts American visitors almost every Sunday. They have printed several of their congregational brochures in English for our sakes. Daniel picked us up at the farmhouse where we are staying and brought us to church.

The service was quite the event, it being the first time I have heard a Swiss Mennonite preacher. As I think I mentioned before, when I attended the Schaenzli Mennonite congregation in Basel the local Reformed pastor was preaching for a joint service. When I attended the Bern congregation last week, a Spanish Baptist preacher was the guest. So finally I heard a Swiss preach. However, he preached in Swiss German. The whole service was in Swiss German except for some High German hymns, and there were quite a few Swiss German hymns. I think it's great that they are doing so much in Swiss German, the language of the heart for the Swiss. But it was harder for me to understand than High German.

After the service was a carry-in meal, something they do every fifth Sunday. When we asked about it, it sounds like something they adapted fairly recently from American Mennonites. So again I am impressed with the interconnections between Mennonites across oceans from one another. MCC has made many connections possible. There is a sense of commonality and what in German can be called a siblinghood in Christ.

When Daniel learned that we planned to visit places in Langnau by bus and train, he thought that would be too difficult. So he took part of his day off on Monday and drove us to the Emmental Schaukaeserei, the place where they show you how they make Emmental cheese, what we in America call Swiss cheese. That was fascinating and tasty.

Then he drove us to Trachelswald Castle. This is the infamous castle where so many Anabaptists were imprisoned through the years. And in fact the castle remains open to the public, and the displays in it focus on the Anabaptists. I found that astonishing, but I think it is one of the affects of the Tauferjahr last year, the Anabaptist year, where Switzerland made some attempt to recognize its history of mistreatment of Anabaptists but also the survival of Anabaptism in Switzerland.

At Trachelswald I discovered that there is a Tauferpfad, or Anabaptisit path, that one can walk through the Emmental. I also bought some Tauferbrot, or Anabaptist bread, at the bakery. When I aske the baker about it she didn't know why it was called Tauferbrot. Daniel said that Tauferbrot was unheard of until the Tauferjahr, so he suspected bakers made it to connect with the commemorations.

In the photo you can see the beautiful Emmental land, this being the view from outside our window at a farmhouse. The second photo is one of our guys trying out the leg irons in one of the Trachelswald prison cells.

We came to Emmental expecting to find some ancestral lands in this area. But as I think I already mentioned, the Kaufmans were latecomers to Anabaptism, joining some 15o years after its founding. They also were more from the Oberland area, near Thun, and not so much here in the Emmental.

However, my wandering ancestor, the Anabaptist leader Isaac Kaufmann, did live for a while in Schangnau near here. Hanspeter Jecker suspects he lived there because it was ruled by Trachelswald but it was not connected to it. There was another county in between. So the rulers in Trachelswald had more trouble keeping track of what was happening in Schangnau. In any case some of the earliest official reports on Isaac are connected with Trachelswald. If I'm reading correctly, it appears that he and perhaps his wife Elsbeth were imprisoned here at one point.

Family Again

I haven't blogged for a week because I haven't had internet access during that time. My life has been a whirlwind since then. Last Friday I picked up my family at the Zurich airport. It was so wonderful to see and touch them again. Actually we had been keeping in touch using Skype video so I had seen them about every other day on video. But now I could touch them.

At the Zurich airport they have a glass wall between those arriving and those waiting. So I saw them through the glass but they could not come out to greet me until they got their luggage. So it was like the "Boy in the Bubble" movie with John Travolta back in the 70s, who was separated from those he loved by plastic. Once they were through the glass I hugged them a lot. It is so nice to have them here.

After a night in the Backpackers Hotel in Zurich, we went on a hike to the Anabaptist Cave near Baeritswil. You can see my Tauferhohle, or Anabaptist Cave blog from before to learn more about this place. I thought it was such a lovely place for a family to visit when I was there that I thought I would take the family when they came, even though they would be suffering from jet lag still. I have no mercy.

So I bought some bratwurst and hot dogs and then we hiked all the way from Baeritswil. I had ridden my bike the first time, and I have to say that the hike is much prettier. It is about 3 hours round trip, assuming you stay for a little while. For us it was more like 4 hours because we not only grilled meat at the fire pits, with wood and newspaper already there for us to use, but then we stopped at a pool in the creek to wade.

So what is nice about the hike is that for the first half you go along a creek which is also surrounded by woods, so it is not just farmland in the sunlight. And then of course the cave is huge and magnificent, and what kid doesn't like a cave? So I would have to call this the number one family friendly Anabaptist site in Switzerland. And again we did it all with public transportation, taking a train from Zurich to Wetzikon, and then a bus to Baeritswil. It took about 45 minutes to be out in the country. You get off at the Baeritswill Oberdorf bus stop and then just follow the Tauferhohle Wanderweg signs, and the yellow markings as you go. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

From Zurich we went to Langnau im Emmental, an historic Mennonite community. There we stayed in a cozy farm building. And there we didn't have an internet connection, and Langnau was not the kind of place to be full of internet cafes. And so that is why I have been out of communication for awhile. So I will try to fill you in over the next several days about what we did in Langnau.