Welcome to Berne, Indiana.

This proud little town knows exactly where it came from, spoiler alert, it's Switzerland, and where it's headed.

Everywhere you look, Berne is teeming with its Swiss heritage and works hard to preserve their history for generations to come.

You're Now Entering Berne!

Now Entering Berne is presented by Habegger's Ace Lumber of Berne, City of Berne, Smith Brothers of Berne, RK Financial, Miz Lehman Realtors and Auctioneers, and Bixler Insurance, with additional support from Everence, Ben and Lana Sprunger, Baumgartner Attorneys, Topp CPA Firm, Mayor Gregg and Barb Sprunger, Swiss Village, First Bank of Berne, EP Graphics, Adams County EDC, and the Berne Chamber of Commerce.

My name is Ben Sprunger and I live here locally.

I'm a financial advisor for Everence Financial, right in downtown Berne.

So my family immigrated back in the middle-1800s.

They came here to escape religious persecution, as well as for what they called better opportunities, like a lot of Europeans did.

I can trace my lineage back to four of seven children in one family, go back to the 1830s, 1850s timeframe when most of my ancestors came over from Switzerland.

I'm Linda McKean and I was born and raised here in Berne, Indiana.

Our ancestors, I noticed here in our museum here at Swiss Heritage Village, our ancestors came in several groups, they didn't all come at once.

They lived in Switzerland under pretty tough conditions.

The Swiss government had really said, "Hey, we can't get rid of you, but we don't like the type of religion you're practicing."

They were Mennonites, so they had moved them to a pretty hardscrabble area in the western side of Switzerland, and that really led them to look for opportunities here.

They were following other Swiss ancestors that had come earlier, and they knew that America was full of opportunity.

So even on the way here, the main group that came in 1852 experienced a lot of loss.

3 kids actually of the 72 that came passed away on the voyage.

They were buried at sea.

Things that we can't even fathom today.

- (Linda) Most of them came through New York Harbor, Ellis Island, and then they went to Wayne County, Ohio.

And in Wayne County, Ohio, they said, "Well, there's land in Adams County, Indiana, and it's only a dollar and a quarter an acre."

So it's said that some of the hard things they had to do was clear the land.

This area was full of trees.

And there's an old saying that when Indiana was starting to be settled, a squirrel could go tree to tree from Lake Michigan all the way down to the Ohio River.

It was full of trees, and so they had to cut those things down.

Not with power saws, with hand saws and axes Where they were in Switzerland, they were forced up into the Jura Mountains and they could hardly make a living.

So, very unusual to me is when they built their homes here in Berne area, they still built their buildings with half timber construction just like they did up in the mountains in Switzerland.

And in Switzerland, they didn't have hardly any trees up high in the mountains, but here they came to an area that had lots of trees and they still built the same way.

My name is Ernie Steiner.

I am the Executive Director and President of the Board here at Swiss Heritage Village.

So Swiss Heritage Village is a combination of the buildings that we've put together so far, historical buildings of our community.

We're trying to retain the history of Berne, Indiana.

- (Linda) To start our village here called Swiss Heritage, it began in 1985.

This is our 40th year, which makes it kind of special.

And it was the brainchild, I guess, of several people, Madelyn Wurster being one of them.

There were several women who would ride in a car with their husbands around the countryside and they noticed these buildings that were used as out buildings for storage and they would say, "That was the Baumgartner Church, wasn't it?"

Or, "That was the Hartman Cheese House."

And they said, "If we don't rescue those buildings soon, our heritage and our history is not going to be here."

We have an education day where we invite area fourth graders, but it's a big day, and then that's followed by Saturday by our Heritage Festival, and that is the day that we make apple butter in a copper kettle over an open fire, and we also make apple cider that day also.

One of our prize buildings is the cider press, and oh my goodness, what an addition because it's the largest in North America, possibly the world.

- (Ernie) Swiss Heritage Village is important to Berne because it remembers or brings the history of Berne to a present day.

- (Linda) Swiss Heritage Museum and the grounds here is so important to Berne because it's preserving our history for our children and our children's children.

My name is Floyd Liechty.

I have been with Smith Brothers of Berne for 46 years and I'm a salesman on the road.

When we first came in 1852, we met in homes and then around 1860 we erected the first church building.

Well, the first building was torn down.

And if you look where the clock tower is, there's a plaque that says that it was where our first church was erected.

The second church was across the street.

The two stood together for about 12 years.

The third building that you see now was built in 1912.

It was dedicated in 1912.

When we first built the church in 1912, instruments were not permitted in the church at that time.

Several years later then, we did purchase our first organ.

It's got 2,009 pipes and it's been enlarged many times.

I think we put that in around 1920.

Keep in mind that this church was built with horses.

There were no machines or anything.

And so if you can imagine the monstrosity of building this church with teams of horses.

Its actually been 500 years, to this year, that the first Anabaptists began.

A guy by the name Felix Manz was baptized January 27, 1525.

He wanted to get baptized again.

He was baptized as a baby, and became baptized as an adult.

And that resulted in persecution.

There were pieces of paper in that Bible and number three there, SF Sprunger, took a paper out, changed his mind, put it back, pulled another one out, which is that paper that says, "Surprise, you're the preacher."

I love Berne because it's who I am.

I have a lot of pride in my ancestry.

And I love Berne because I can represent a factory that's been here next year for 100 years.

And so when I go out and represent Smith Brothers of Berne, I don't represent just the factory.

I represent my people, my grandpa, who was a cutter there, and who it is and what it is and who we are.

My name is Christa Boland and I help out at Pine Lake Waterpark.

I'm Andy Lehmann and I am the manager at Pine Lake Waterpark.

Pine Lake Waterpark is a natural-formed lake.

It used to be a gravel pit, but they hit springs and so it filled up with water, and since then people have been swimming in it.

The park opened, I believe, in 1922.

My great-grandfather and some other gentlemen purchased the property, and eventually transitioned just to my great-grandfather owning it with his two sons.

The Palm Sunday Tornado of 1965 came through Pine Lake.

It took out all of the giant pine trees, the concession stand.

My parents purchased half of the lake in 1965 from my great uncle, and at that time, additional slides were built.

I grew up in Berne, so I have known about Pine Lake my entire life.

It was kind of a special treat when we got to go out to Pine Lake during the summer when I was growing up.

To be able to have actual water slides as part of that lake, that just provides a really unique experience.

We had gone to different parks where there were the dry gunny sack slides.

Well, my dad was a high school math teacher and a physics major, and he thought, "Well, I could build that, but in a water slide."

So he got the lifeguards together, and in their garage they designed and made the pieces for the original racer slide.

The bobbers are original design.

They are buoys that came from the Great Lakes that are used for boats.

As far as I know, they're the only ones in the world.

- (Andy) We have tens of thousands of people that visit our water park every year.

It's amazing, when I travel different places and people ask where I'm from, if I say that I'm from Berne, Indiana, there are two things that they associate with Berne, the clock tower and Pine Lake.

And it doesn't seem to matter where I am in the US or even around the world, Pine Lake really is a place for everyone.

My dad has dedicated hours and hours of his time, his thoughts, and my mom, too.

They have poured their heart and soul into Pine Lake Waterpark.

It's the place where I grew up.

It was my home.

I just want to say a big thanks to everyone who's contributed to make it such a wonderful place to be.

My name is Kirstien Herman.

I work with the Berne Chamber of Commerce as the executive director.

Swiss Days is a wonderful summer festival that has been happening since 1972.

It actually started out as a sidewalk sale with the Berne downtown businesses.

They got together and wanted to have a fun event where a lot of people came downtown and were buying their products, and it's just kind of grown into this large festival that we see now.

I started managing Swiss Days last July.

My first week was July 1, actually.

So I got to see the end of Swiss Days last year and see a little bit of the planning.

Swiss Days is a two and a half day festival, so it starts Thursday at 5:00 PM, and that's when we have our opening ceremony and we have so many events.

To kick it off, obviously, is the opening ceremony.

We put out some awards that the chamber gives out, so we have Business of the Year, Young Professional of the Year, Citizen of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement.

And then after that, we have our Little Miss Swiss Days competition, and whoever is the winner is crowned Little Miss Swiss Days, they get a cute little tiara and sash and they get to walk around Swiss Days in a dress.

We also have the brat eating contest, which is also a newer contest.

This was our third year.

It is probably our most attended event, though.

Watching grown men shovel down brats is fun entertainment for the town.

Every single year, we switch back and forth between a play and just some random event.

This year, we did a talent show.

The year before that, we had the Back Home Again show, which was just local talent that came out and performed for a crowd, which was very exciting.

A big goal of mine is to have a Swiss alley, which would be a food alley specifically for Swiss food and things like that.

I love Berne because of the close-knit community that we have here.

I live very close to my entire mom's side of the family, so I'm able to visit and see them often, which is really exciting.

And I think that's the thing that I love best about Berne, is just how close-knit everyone is and how it makes family units tighter.

Stay tuned to learn about Berne's Heritage Room and hear from two creative industry veterans.

But first, a word from our sponsors.

Habegger's Ace Lumber and Building Supply have been serving Berne, Indiana and the surrounding area since 1956.

The company features a 24,000 square foot store and eight warehouses stocked with lumber, hardware, electrical, and plumbing supplies.

Learn more at habeggerace.com.

The city of Berne, Indiana is a rural community in Northeast Indiana celebrating its Swiss and Amish heritage.

Named for Bern, Switzerland, Berne features historic architecture and cultural landmarks.

Home to a large Amish community, Berne combines a rich history with unique small town culture.

Smith Brothers, an American furniture maker based in Berne, Indiana since 1926 continues its tradition of building furniture to last for generations.

Using material sourced across the Midwest, artisans create pieces that can be tailored with a wide range of styles, fabrics, and leathers.

RK Financial is a full service financial advising practice with offices in Berne and Bluffton.

RK Financial provides guidance and financial strategies for every stage of life, from retirement and investment planning to estate and insurance strategies.

Miz Lehman, Realtors and Auctioneers, serving the community since 1960, is a full service real estate company.

Miz Lehman Realtors and Auctioneers assist with all types of auctions, from live and online auctions to estates to equipment.

More at mizlehman.com.

Thank you to our sponsors.

Now, let's get back to the program.

This area, the term “Swiss Triangle” was coined by a previous historian, Claren Neuenschwander.

He served as superintendent, was a stalwart in the community for years.

He's passed on now, but he called it the Swiss Triangle because of the shape of the area that had been passed over decades prior.

And so 1830s, the Mennonites and a few other people groups, the Apostolics and the Amish started settling in this area.

And so by the 1850s, there were several families here in the area, but the largest group came in 1852.

Then the 1860s, 1870s is when you really started things come together.

Once farms- Once people started laying claim to 80 acre farms, they would give them 80 acre farms, and that was thought to be enough to have an orchard, have multiple farm fields, a pasture, a barn, and of course your cabin.

So you had people here.

The farms were established and land was tracked out, parceled out, whatever.

And what happened was the railroad started to look for a route to come through.

And prior to that, it was really hard for anybody around.

The Swiss, you were pretty much isolated.

They chose the route from Decatur to Portland, which instead of going Decatur to Hartford City.

And the reason that's important is because it bypassed another town called Linn Grove.

And with that, it went right through the middle of what we call the Swiss Triangle.

And so Christmas Day, 1871, the Grand Rapids Indiana Railroad brought their first train through Berne.

And at that time, there was one building which happens to be where my office is downtown.

In 1871, it was a hardware store.

And then a station was built early in 1872.

There wasn't a town yet.

The town actually sprung up around there.

Berne then got its name because some local farmers and church leaders were brought together to decide how to name the town.

Of course, they named it in honor of the capital city of Switzerland, their Fatherland, but they put an E on the end because that's the French spelling, not the Swiss spelling, not the German spelling.

And I believe it's because they spent time in French-speaking Switzerland as they were moved to the western side.

Hi, I am Becki Schwartz.

I work at the Heritage Room and the Berne Public Library.

I am Jenna Langston.

I am a library assistant and co-head of the Heritage Room at the Berne Public Library.

- (Becki) The library was first opened in 1935 and there was a Berne Book Club.

They were responsible for setting up a Berne Public Library Association.

It probably was religious at first.

There were a lot of people in the area who were doing religious teaching and writing religious articles and things like that.

And this Berne was actually the starting place for several denominations.

- (Becki) It was a lot smaller.

The library had about 600 books when they first opened.

The first weekend they opened, I believe they had about 75 cards issued, and then by a month later they had closer to 300.

The Heritage Room is our local genealogy and history center.

We keep records of births, deaths.

We have marriage records, we have a lot of church cemetery information.

The Hahneman is the ship that brought the original settlers to Berne.

They came from France in 1852.

We have a copy of the manifest and it has the names of a lot of Sprungers.

There are several other families, but it's really neat to be able to trace back a lot of people in Berne are connected to the Sprungers that were on that ship.

I think libraries in general are really important to all of their communities because they are providing resources that you would be hard-pressed to do yourself.

Being able to go and check out books for free, and check out DVDs, and check out CDs, and get e-books, and it's really an important community resource.

And there's still a lot of people who don't have internet access in their homes, so to be able to come to a place where they can use it for free, I think is really important.

My name is Keith Reinhard.

I'm a veteran of the advertising industry, moving on up through the creative ranks to become CEO of DDB Worldwide.

My 27-year-old mother took a job in the town's only grocery store, the IGA store.

I got to go with her and do stuff around the store, but I was intrigued by all the advertising banners.

I got to take them home, and I studied all the artwork and the design of these posters, and that intrigued me.

Then I went to Fort Wayne and begged to get an internship at a commercial art studio and they said, "Okay, we will pay you 75 cents an hour for anything you can actually do."

And these two artists took me under their wing and taught me stuff.

And after about, I think it was 9 months or 10 months, I quit that job and went off to Chicago saying, "Okay, I'm ready for the big time now."

I worked in an art studio in Chicago.

I couldn't get a job in an agency.

I finally got a job as a beginning copywriter.

My first assignment was write humorous radio commercials for State Farm Insurance.

And so I showed some of my scripts to the account guys and they said, "They're kind of funny."

We took them down to Bloomington, Illinois to State Farm and they laughed.

And the agency gave me their top radio producer, Christopher Ford, who's Harrison Ford's dad, and he took me to Hollywood and we got talent to do these radio commercials, and they worked.

Berne was very important to my whole value system.

I've been retired officially for a number of years, but I'm still involved.

I go talk to the young people and the interns and tell them what a great career they could have in the world of advertising.

My name is Steve Lehman.

I am Chairman of the Board of Smith Brothers of Berne Inc.

We manufacture upholstered furniture.

The company actually started in 1926.

It all began then.

I believe Smith Brothers in the very early ages, for I think 30 days, Smith Brothers was called Adams Manufacturing Company, and then it became Homer Manufacturing Company for Homer Niederhauser.

So he had, I understand, a pretty strong personality.

Then it was changed to Smith Brothers Manufacturing.

As at the time, there were three furniture manufacturing companies in this small town as well as three retailers.

Dunbar started, I believe it was 1925.

They earned a reputation for themselves, not only nationwide, but they became known all over the for their fine exquisite woodworking pieces.

And Smith Brothers started in 1926.

Berne has been a great community for us to build this factory and this enterprise.

They're hardworking people with great values.

I'm Dave Baumgartner.

I'm president of Berne Community Development Corporation.

In 2002 was Berne's Sesquicentennial.

Afterwards, there was kind of a lingering question, and that was, "Why don't we build some kind of landmark similar to the one that's in Bern, Switzerland?"

It's not a replica, it's our own version of it.

We started fundraising for the clock tower and the Muensterberg Plaza in about 2003.

The biggest obstacle was our original quote or original bids that came in were about twice what we thought it was going to be.

And what we did was we just redesigned it.

Enough people were able to catch the vision that we were able to raise the funds.

The tower was actually built in 2010.

Over the next four or five years, we expanded and finished out the plaza with a splash pad, with a canton tree, with a settlers' monument, with a bear statue, with quilt gardens.

So there are a lot of different features of Muensterberg Plaza.

We wanted to have a glockenspiel that told the story of Berne, Indiana.

The glockenspiel is a musical number of figures and do a presentation three times a day.

The ship that brought the main group in 1852, there are some of the original industries, such as lumber making and carpentry and blacksmithing.

Music is very important in Berne, and so there's a choir represented there.

Amish, the original settlers are represented there, and I think sports.

Last year, we started our first Christkindlmarkt market and we believe that this is going to be a very popular thing for Berne.

I love Berne because of the people.

We have very generous people who are very concerned about one another, who support one another, and so it's the people Berne that I love.

I'm Donald Neuen.

So I had a wonderful life in music, and to which I owe all of it to the foundation in Berne, Indiana and Ball State University.

Well, you know the Swiss, it's perfectly cleanly.

All the houses were kept up painted beautifully.

All the shrubberies and the lawns were manicured, and the people were so kind.

Their number one priority was God and church.

Sunday was the Sabbath day.

You should hear them sing the hymns, both in English and in German, in four-part harmony.

And there was music in everything.

Every holiday, every special events, all the picnics, all the everything, there were always people singing.

So it was a great place for me to grow up.

When I was in my 20s, I gave my music to God.

I don't know why.

It just occurred to me, "God gave me music as a gift to me.

I should give it back."

I studied with people who knew more than I knew.

Always found somebody who knew what I didn't know, and I'd call him and say, "I'll pay you whatever you ask, can I come and study with you?"

Most of them did it for nothing.

One guy charged me a whole week at $100 an hour.

From that minute in my early 20s till I retired, I just loved music, loved working hard at it, loved people, and God led me.

Berne was considerate, held high values, and it seemed to excel in everything they did, and everybody who has been a part of it was able to grow because of it.

- (Ernie) I love Berne because it's home.

You know- Everybody has that feeling what home is, and Berne is home to me.

We love our history in Berne.

I feel like we're all very proud of our Swiss roots, and we want to honor and respect those that struggled and succeeded before us and honor them.

My 10-year-old daughter, doesn't matter where we are, everyone knows her.

And so that is a lot of fun because she really feels the love here in Berne, Indiana.

And I, as a dad, love that and sense that and feel that as well.

My husband and I got an award for Outstanding Citizens of Berne several years ago, and I know it was because my mother and father and my husband's mother and father were all very civic-minded.

My husband was the mayor for eight years here in Berne, and we wanted to give back to the community because we were so thankful for our growing up here, our heritage, even in our generation.

There's a sense of belonging.

I think in a small town like Berne, you have the ability to really make an impact and matter.

Now Entering Berne is presented by Habegger's Ace Lumber of Berne, City of Berne, Smith Brothers of Berne, RK Financial, Miz Lehman Realtors and Auctioneers, and Bixler Insurance, with additional support from Everence, Ben and Lana Sprunger, Baumgartner Attorneys, Topp CPA Firm, Mayor Gregg and Barb Sprunger, Swiss Village, First Bank of Berne, EP Graphics, Adams County EDC, and the Berne Chamber of Commerce.