The principal of North Amana Workshops, Guy Wendler, grew up in the Amana Colonies in eastern Iowa. These colonies were established in 1854 by settlers from Germany and today still reflect this German heritage with values such as craftsmanship, orderliness, industry, and sustainability.
The Amana Colonies are comprised of seven villages including West Amana, East Amana, and South Amana. What about North Amana? Well, it doesn’t exist as a village of the Amana Colonies, and no one knows why. So to fulfill the four points on the compass, we created North Amana as an imaginary village where creativity thrives. North Amana, therefore, is symbolic of a village where value is born of creativity and care.