Bruderhof History

What is the purpose of my life? What is friendship? What is faith? These universal questions, which are especially relevant to young adults, form the heart of this compelling story, told through real letters and diary entries. Anni, who grows from her teenage years to adulthood over the course of the book, is passionate about life and unsparing in her search for authenticity. Articulate and probing, her words have a contemporary ring as she plumbs the reality of her doubt and sense of spiritual loneliness. Then she experiences a call from God – and finds a life of purpose, faith, and joy. In Anni's own words: "It is infinitely reassuring to know that there is an absolute truth, an infinitely great love. It is wonderful to know that one does not have to squander one's life, one does not need to ask anymore what life is really for, what its purpose is." Heightening the drama of this coming-of-age memoir is the historical setting in 1920s Germany, as the specter of Nazism looms ever larger over the world of Anni and her friends, giving their questions about life's meaning a special poignancy.

In the tumultuous aftermath of the First World War, thousands of young Germans defied the social mores of their parents – and the constricting influence of the established churches – in search of freedom, social equality, nature, and community. Hiking clubs were formed and work camps organized, and hundreds of rural folk schools and communes sprang up across the country. In the 1930s, Nazism swallowed this so-called Youth Movement virtually whole. A Joyful Pilgrimage is the engaging story of a remnant that survived: the Bruderhof, a 75-year-old community that began when the author and her husband, a well-known writer and lecturer, abandoned their affluent Berlin suburb to start a new life and "venture of faith." At first glance a memoir, A Joyful Pilgrimage is a radical call to faith and commitment against great odds. It is also a remarkable testimony to the leading of the Spirit, which, as Emmy Arnold writes, can hold together those who believe in the "daily miracle" of community "through thick and thin."