#ausbund

First printed in the year 1564, the Ausbund is used regularly in the Amish churches of today.

It has become an Anabaptist classic, and well over a hundred thousand have been printed here in America.  It has gone through at least 60 known printings.

About ten thousand Ausbunds are printed every year, most of them going into use in the plain churches.  In an Amish church district, except for the church benches, there is very little property owned jointly by all the church members, except the hymnbooks.  Some small districts may own less than 30 books, while the larger ones may own over a hundred

The songs of the Ausbund are an important reminder of the suffering and faith of Anabaptist ancestors, an example for Amish and other Anabaptist peoples who use the book today.   that the Ausbund is not to be considered a holy book like the Bible, but one which has nonetheless had an immense influence on Amish and other Anabaptists

Ausbunds do not contain musical notes, and tunes are learned and passed down from one generation to the next.  A song leader sings the opening notes of each line, after which the rest of the congregation joins in.  Hymns are very slow with drawn-out notes.

The Ausbund has been added to and expanded over the years, and consists of three distinct parts.  As one might expect, tunes have become altered over the course of passing them down over many years and among many different groups.