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117 parks in 7 regions

Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center and Behalt

Berlin · Holmes County · East-central Ohio
A giant cyclorama of Anabaptist history in Amish country
Behalt cycloramaAmish Country Byway stop

Visiting information you can trust

Check before driving — this site is seasonal, approximate, privately run, or otherwise uncertain. Confirm hours and access with the official source above.
Content last reviewed
September 2026 — this is when Field Notes Ohio's content was last checked, not a live status.
Primary official source
Official page
Location confidence
Verified entrance or visitor center
Behalt Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center, 5798 Co Rd 77
Seasonal access
April to October: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. November to March: Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday.
Check current conditions
Official conditions or closures
Reservations or tickets
Tickets or admission info

Prices, hours, closures, campsite availability and trail conditions shown elsewhere on this page are not live — always confirm with the official source before you go.

A cultural center in Holmes County that tells the story of the Amish and Mennonites through a giant painted cyclorama.

Behalt
A cyclorama, one of a handful in the world and the only one painted by a single artist, on the history of the Anabaptists
Center
Opened in 1981 as the Mennonite Information Center; the current building opened in April 1990
Cost
The building was funded by $835,000 in donations
Library
The Ohio Amish Library and the Zollikon Institute are here
Setting
Holmes County, the world's highest-density area of Amish
Word
Behalt is Swiss German for 'remember'

The story

The Amish and Mennonites trace their roots to the Anabaptist movement of the 1520s in Europe. In Zürich in 1525 a group of young reformers began baptizing adults who confessed their faith, and in March 1526 the city council made adult rebaptism punishable by drowning. Felix Manz was drowned in the Limmat River on January 5, 1527, the first Anabaptist executed by other Protestants, and Catholic authorities executed Michael Sattler that May. Both Catholics and Protestants persecuted the Anabaptists with torture and execution, and the Martyrs Mirror, first published in 1660, records thousands who were killed between 1525 and 1660. King Ferdinand called drowning 'the best antidote to Anabaptism.' Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North America by the Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites, and the Amish branch itself formed in a split led by Jakob Ammann in 1693. Their descendants came to Pennsylvania and later to Ohio, where Holmes County now holds the highest-density population of Amish in the world.

The center opened in 1981 as the Mennonite Information Center in a church building at Bunker Hill, moved to a location in Berlin and in April 1990 opened the present building, built with $835,000 in donations. Its centerpiece is the Behalt cyclorama, a huge mural of Anabaptist history painted by one artist, presented in a rotunda with a guide who narrates it. The center also houses the Ohio Amish Library and the Zollikon Institute, a gift shop and a photograph gallery. It is on the Amish Country Byway.

Related sites

A Mural to Remember

In the early 1500s a few Swiss and German Christians decided that baptism should be a choice for adults and that a church should not carry a sword. Kings and bishops responded by drowning, burning and imprisoning them.

Their descendants, the Amish and Mennonites, remember them. A single painter spent years turning that memory into a mural more than two hundred feet long, and named it Behalt, which means 'remember.'

Behind the legend

The center's opening dates, the funding, the library and the description of Behalt come from the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center's own site and Wikipedia. The persecution history comes from Wikipedia's articles on Anabaptism, Felix Manz and the Swiss Brethren, and from Lumen Learning's course text, which agree that Catholics and Protestants both persecuted Anabaptists and that persecution drove the Amish, Mennonites and Hutterites to North America. The Martyrs Mirror's count of executions and King Ferdinand's remark are in the same sources.

If you go

Take the guided cyclorama tour, then drive the Amish Country Byway through Berlin and Sugarcreek.

Visiting

Status
Open daily except Sunday
Managed by
Mennonite Information Center, a nonprofit
Hours
April to October: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. November to March: Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday.
Admission
Admission for the cyclorama; see the center's website.
Phone
See behalt.com
Please note
This is a religious community; ask before photographing people.
Address
5798 County Road 77, Millersburg, OH 44654
Official information →DirectionsFind trails nearby on AllTrails →

Hours and prices change. Confirm with the site before you go.

Parks nearby

Mohican State Park
About 30 miles · A gorge and canoe river.
Open
Leesville Lake
About 35 miles · A muskie lake with marina camping.
Open

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.