The earliest recorded Anabaptist movement during Reformation times originated in the village of Zollikon near Zürich in 1525.
The movement spread, both by evangelistic zeal and persecution, from Switzerland into Germany, Moravia, Poland, Russia, the Netherlands, and eventually to North and South America[dubious – discuss].
Around 1671, because of persecution by the government and the state church, a large group of Anabaptists (Mennonites) left Switzerland for the Palatinate in Germany.
For many Mennonites, persecution helped institutionalize separation, non-conformity and farming as a way of life[citation needed].
Many Amish Mennonites in America can be traced to the areas of Thun and Schwarzenburg in Canton Bern.