The Dreams of Christian Metz, Amana's Charismatic Founding Leader

Christian Metz (1793-1867), Amana's founding leader, has been studied primarily as a community administrator (DuVal 1948, Houghton 1993) and in the context of his followers' response to particular events such as the Civil War (Hoehnle 1998).For his co-religionists, Metz was--and is-regarded as a Werkzeug, or instrument, chosen to receive and pronounce testimonies believed to be of divine origin.A Werkzeug might be given the gift to deliver a given testimony orally (as a so-called Aussprache) or in written form (as an Einsprache).Intriguing work has been done on patterns in Metz's delivery of testimonies (Andelson 1980) but much more research remains to be done on Metz as a Werkzeug.Metz's Testimonies are preserved in 42 volumes (see Sources and References).As colony administrator, Metz took an active interest in education and literacy and regularly corresponded with the schoolteacher Gottfried Mann.When his fellow Inspirationists expressed interest in obtaining good reading material, Metz was thrilled ("es ist in unserer Zeit viel Begehr bei den Geschwistern nach Buchern, welches mich als freut" MC, February 12, 1860).Metz was also a prolific correspondent (though not one blessed with remarkably clear handwriting), and when he traveled, he needed access to writing materials.Charles L. Mayer, who played an important role in the Ebenezer, New York colony, especially after Metz had moved to Amana, welcomed Metz back for a visit with the news that a pen with a fine gold nib would be awaiting him when he arrived ("eine gute Goldfeder zur nothigen Korrespondenz wartet auch" MC, July 14, 1860).It was not Metz himself, however, who typically recorded his spiritual pronouncements.This task was assigned to a team of scribes who accompanied the Werkzeug.While the Testimonies reveal something of Metz's personality and character, they were not meant (in principle, at least) to be taken as expressions of personal opinion.Instead, they were prescriptive statements