In 1909, a labor dispute developed between the workers of the Kinneret farm and the farm's director. The head of the WZO settlement office in Palestine decided to give the settlers part of the land to set up an independent worker's settlement. He allotted approximately 3,000 dunams, on the southern end of the Kinneret to the worker's group. The group disbanded after the first year, and the land was handed over to another group known as the Romny group (named after the town which it had originated from in Russia). The settlers named the settlement "Degania." It became a 'laboratory' for collective settlement and was known as the Kvutsa.

Some of the early settlers of Degania A.D Gordan as well as the poetess Rachel (Bluwstein). In November 1911 the first settler was killed by Arab Mauraders.

The subsequent kibbutzim founded throughout Israel modeled themselves on Degania. Today, Degania Aleph has a population of 530.