Amana History

One of the biggest names in air conditioning traces its roots to a part of the country that gave birth to one of America’s communal societies – the Amana Colonies in Iowa – which endures to this very day.

Persecution and a poor economy in Germany compelled the group’s forerunners – then known as the Community of True Inspiration – to set sail for America, where it was hoped they would find religious freedom. By 1844, the group had pooled their economic resources to buy 5,000 acres near Buffalo, NY. Eventually, the group needed more farmland. The Inspirationists, as they were known, decided to look into the prospect of buying some land in Iowa, where real estate prices were relatively cheap. They settled in a valley near the Iowa River.

Amana products were introduced in 1934, when George Foerstner, an Amana native, decided to rise to the challenge of building a reliable beverage cooler. Having successfully completed that task, Foerstner’s company introduced another essential product for restaurants and grocery stores: The walk-in cooler.

In fact, Amana received an Army-Navy “E” Award during World War Two for supplying the military with walk-in cooler. When the war ended, the company re-focused its effort on developing improvements here at home -- creating and building freezers that could be used by individual homeowners.

The company then branched out from refrigeration to offer a wide range of residential and commercial appliances. One that stands out from all the others was the Amana Radarange®, the first portable counter-top microwave oven.

The residents of the Amana colonies were well known for their craftsmanship, and that reputation was not forgotten when the company began to make heating and air conditioning products. This includes the technology behind Amana’s Million-Air® heat exchanger as well as the high-quality filter driers in every one of the company’s heat pumps and air conditioners. The company, its web site says, remains devoted to “Amana’s legacy of providing homeowners with heating and cooling products that are built to last.”