Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center

I really enjoyed the time that we spent here. We took both tours and I found them both interesting. Our guide was very knowledgeable and confident in the information he shared which I really liked. At first, I was not interested in hearing about the painting however I am truly glad that we decided to spend the time to learn about it. It is a gorgeous piece of art with such history and meaning behind it.
The store that accompanies the center has some great souvenirs and a vast selection of literature. Everything was very reasonably priced. I am not sure it is a place that you need to go more than once but I highly recommend visiting at least once if you find yourself in the area. On a side note… I am not sure I would recommend this for children. It is a little slow moving and probably a little boring.

If you haven’t been here to experience the Behalt painting and tour, you are missing out. It is an incredible work of art and research that you cannot find anywhere else, and totally worth the $ 8.

This is a fabulous place to come and learn about the Amish culture. You’ll get to watch a brief video, get a guided tour of a 10 ft tall x 265 ft mural-​in-​the-​round, and an outdoors tour of a small school house and a barn. Behalt means «to keep» or «to remember», and the mural illustrates the heritage of the Amish and Mennonite people from their Anabaptist beginnings in Zürich, Switzerland in 1525 to the present day.

Pretty cool place to get education on the Amish & Mennonite culture!!! We were able to watch a 15 minute movie which was very informative! The workers were very sweet and helpful! I had to buy something to help the cause, so I bought a cute little baby bonnet. Definitely come here if you want to experience the true culture and education of the Mennonite & Amish heritage! You will be very pleased!!!

The guided tour of the circular 265-​ft long Behalt cyclorama was excellent. Our speaker, a member of the Old Amish order, condensed nearly 500 years of Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite history including their Swiss Anabaptist roots into a 30-​minute round-​the-​cyclorama presentation. His talk confirmed many of the things we already knew (we live in another predominantly Amish area) but added just as many interesting historical facts we did not know. He ended the presentation by discussing what is faith-​based versus tradition-​based in what you’d expect to see in modern Amish/​Mennonite culture — that was quite interesting!
Since it was winter during our visit the schoolhouse & barn tour wasn’t available.
The center includes an extensive collection of books for sale and a handsome selection of wood and metal crafts as well as some locally made jams and syrups. We particularly loved the section of woodcraft by local mentally-​challenged Amish/​Mennonite residents — really talented stuff which we couldn’t resist purchasing. There is also a small museum section with timelines and clothing artifacts on display.
Formerly known as the Mennonite Information Center, this museum’s mission is to help set forth the facts about the Amish and Mennonite people and clear up the myths brought on by modern television and media. We found the volunteers here very accommodating and open with our questions about their history, beliefs, and their views on others’ beliefs.
Outside of buying furniture, if you’re in Holmes County to experience and learn about the Amish/​Mennonite culture, consider the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center a FIRST and MUST-​DO!