Inside the Bruderhof

[CleverCatty]

This was on last week but only a 30 minute programme.

I felt it seemed very short and a bit sneery by some of the Bruderhof teenagers who had 'decided to live outside Bruderhof world for a year', they seemed to think you had no life if you didn't live like they did.

The men seemed nice to a certain degree but one who left the Bruderhof and returned seemed to be very much into fishing, riding bikes in countryside and 'work' in the Bruderhof community. Seemed to me very much a way of opting out of normal life with mortgage, savings, ambitions etc.

Anyone else see it?

I thought it was quite interesting. If you naturally aligned yourself with their ideals it could be a nice place to live. I couldn't see myself there though. Women were considered to be different to men and there were separate roles and employment for them. Also, the community seemed to assign people their accommodation. Some of the members seemed to have lived in a lot of different houses. I may have picked this up wrongly, but I thought the community could also dictate which community you were to live with and so could force you to move round the country.

Very strange community. The girl who went to live in London should have worn regular clothes and did normal teenage stuff

It’s funny how traditional dress is peasant dresses and headscarves for the females and jeans and hoodies for the men.

I thought lots of things weren’t explored. Eg who runs them (I believe from googling a pastor in the US) and who selects him?

I thought it was very interesting.
Especially when they asked the man why the women were still dressing like 1920s peasants and the men were wearing modern clothing.

I quite like the idea of living somewhere where I don't have to pay any bills

Yes that was such an astute question - you could see he didn’t like it

It looked lovely for children but it’s such an extreme way of life!

@Excitedforxmas

Very strange community. The girl who went to live in London should have worn regular clothes and did normal teenage stuff

but that's kind of the point - wearing normal teenage clothes would mean spending money and confirming to fashion and doing normal teenage stuff would be going away from the Bruderhof's Christian values.

Funnily enough when I saw an Amish documentary and the teenagers went on Rumpsringa I'm sure I recall them wearing more modern clothes - jeans and tshirts and drinking and having fun with friends rather than this pious group of Bruderhof women sitting around bitching about non Bruderhof people. Of course you'll see other stuff on your year out as Bruderhof but if you don't experience any of it - like pubs, parties etc it won't mean anything!

I watched it today while ironing.
Agree that the men wear jeans and hoodies and women in awful baggy shite & headscarves. Def not right.
Would be great to be a young child there, but not a teenager or young adult.
I’d never heard of them before the programme. They seem a strict version of Plymouth brethren.

I've always been interested in the Bruderhof. As an Early Years Teacher we had a lot of Community Playthings equipment which is what they make in the workshop in Sussex. Everything is extremely well made and when I had a tepee which had been unstrung (by my predecessor in that job) they came and collected it, fixed it and brought it back free of charge. I also had little bikes mended free of charge in a different job. The catalogue has pictures of their children using the equipment and great big prams like wagons containing 6 children being pulled by women in headscarves.

It looks like a very peaceful way of life but I'd find it very hard not to even own my own clothes or cook my own meals. It does look idyllic for the children though.

It's still men controlling women. The women wear the impractical clothes, care for the community's children, do the drudge work and are denied contraception.
The residents seem institutionalised.

I watched it and actually thought what a huge risk to put your financial security and future totally in others' hands. I mean what if the business stops being profitable? What if the guy at the top is creaming it all off? Essentially it is communism on a small scale.
But I could see why if you were raised that way, you would feel disheartened by the amount of consumerism and greed there is in the rest of the world, and how selfish we are.
Interesting I thought. I was waiting for the skeleton in the closet but it didn't come. At least not in that 30 min documentary.

I was fascinated, especially by the business. I realised I recognised the stuff from my kids nursery. Apparently the women do the marketing, website etc and were disappointed this was not shown.

Rural Sussex to Peckham is not a comparison is it? I thought they choose somewhere so deliberately different that the outside world would feel unpleasant and frightening. If they’d have sent the teenagers to Canterbury, I’m certain the return rate would be different.

It would have been good to have seen a leader and understand more about the business.

The chap fishing hit the nail on the head where he said that by returning you give up any ambition.

They believed the only way to achieve fulfilment was through religion. Many people are religious and also a part of a church and local/ school community and are fulfilled in their lives through friends and careers. They are not given reality in that year away. They could have joined a church community somewhere else and understand what it’s like to live a normal life whilst being part of a church family.

It was very one sided, Louis Theroux could have done. A great documentary!

I did think cult to be honest. I completely agree with Mixingitall and I sat there wondering why on earth they had chosen to place them in Peckham with minders. It was like they took them from a rural ideal and just chucked them somewhere completely different with no preparation but also a lack of true freedom. I’d have been more impressed with their year out if they’d encouraged the young people to get qualifications, go to university and then decide. I’d love to know what they’re taught in the school.

Do they use our health care system? Do they manage all their sewarage and water systems etc? This documentary was very safe.

Do they have safeguarding measures in place? Surely communities like this are high risk for abuse and yes how are they educated?

This documentary threw up far more questions than it answered tbh.

Also it is very exclusive. Who is actually able to join?

Doesn't 'Bruderho' say it all?Brothers not sisters

Yes to all of this. Also, it felt like it was meant to be an hour long documentary, then they just got bored and signed off.

The returning chap seemed like he just didn't want to make any decisions, so by rejoining he'd please his family and be able to bimble along.

What struck me most was how slow and somehow flat they all were. The only time the girl looked genuinely happy was when she was playing computer games with the young lad. Also the nine year olds seemed far more dynamic.

I googled them and in America there has been a few incidents of abuse amongst them

Well it stands to reason in a community of 300 there will be a couple of wrong uns.

I thought it was very interesting, I've read around it a bit more since the programme and researched their website ... very thought provoking, a bit like the Kibbutz system (does that still exist?).
There's a lot of worthwhile concepts - not relying on money for possessions or fashion and caring about your appearance. They seemed to care for elderly people, those with disabilities etc without 'casting them out' but it would be good to see a more in depth study.

Another side to the Bruderhof
www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-51310036

Interestingly they have been ofsted inspected and do seem to make progress.

files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/2779941