Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

n town in the Görlitz district in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, known for the community of the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

established by Nicolas Ludwig, Count von Zinzendorf in 1722.

Geography

It is located in the historic

region, on the road Bundesstraße 178, and on the

Zittau–Löbau railway The Zittau–Löbau railway is a line in the German state of Saxony, originally built and operated by the ''Löbau-Zittau Railway Company''. The line opened in 1848 and it was one of the oldest lines in Germany. Only part of the line is still in s ...

line. Herrnhut is about south-east of

Löbau Löbau ( Upper Sorbian: Lubij) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the ga ...

, north-west of

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, :de:Oberlausitzer Mundart, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic languages, Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto' ...

, and south-west of the district capital

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

. The municipality borders on, among other municipalities, Oderwitz.

Subdivisions

Herrnhut is also the name of the largest town in the municipality. Since 1 January 2013, when

Großhennersdorf Großhennersdorf is a village and a former municipality in Görlitz district, Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it is part of the town Herrnhut. The Bundesstraße 178 connects Großhennersdorf with Löbau and Zittau. The town was founded i ...

* Heuscheune * Neundorf auf dem Eigen * Schönbrunn *

Berthelsdorf Berthelsdorf ( hsb, Batromjecy) is a former municipality in the district of Görlitz, in the southeastern part of Saxony, Germany. On 1 January 2013, it was incorporated into the town of Herrnhut.Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooperat ...

. The

Unity of the Brethren Unity of the Brethren (Latin ''Unitas Fratrum'') may refer to: *Unity of the Brethren (Czech Republic), the province of the Moravian Church in the Czech Republic *Unity of the Brethren (Texas), a Protestant church formed in the 1800s by Czech immig ...

arose after the reformer

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspir ...

had been

burnt at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment ...

during the

Council of Constance The Council of Constance was a 15th-century ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418 in the Bishopric of Constance in present-day Germany. The council ended the Western Schism by deposing or accepting the res ...

in 1415. In the 18th century, they had to face the stern

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

measures enacted in the

Lands of the Bohemian Crown The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of B ...

by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

rulers. From 1722 refugees came to Upper Lusatia, held by the

Electors of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

since the

Peace of Prague (1635) The Peace of Prague (, ), signed on 30 May 1635, ended Saxony's participation in the Thirty Years War. Other German princes subsequently joined the treaty and although the Thirty Years War continued, it is generally agreed Prague ended it as a ...

. After meeting with their leader

Christian David Christian David (1692–1751) was a German Lutheran missionary, writer and hymnwriter. He travelled as a missionary of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, the Moravian Church, to Greenland and to Native Americans. He is known as the author of hymn stan ...

, a Moravian missionary, the German nobleman Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760) invited them to settle on his extended Berthelsdorf estates. Shortly afterwards, David built the first home in what was to become Herrnhut. ''Herrn Hut'' means the Lord's watchful care or the Lord's protection. Zinzendorf himself had a new residence erected here in 1725–1727). From Herrnhut the community spread to Rixdorf near

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, the former Marienborn monastery near

Büdingen Büdingen is a town in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is mainly known for its well-preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and half-timbered houses. Geography Location Büdingen is in the south of the Wetterau below the Vogels ...

, to

Herrnhaag Herrnhaag (Lord's Grove) was a communal spiritual centre for the Moravian Unity, an early form of Protestantism. It and Marienborn, a nearby sister community, are located in the Wetterau, an area of Hesse, north of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. ...

, to

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

, to Pawlowitzke (1771–1772). Numerous daughter churches arose all over the world. The first organized Protestant missionary movement began from Herrnhut in 1732, when 2 Brethren went to the Danish West Indies, and then others went also to Greenland. The first North American mission work began in Savannah, Georgia in 1735. In 1738, the missionary station of

Genadendal Genadendal is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, built on the site of the oldest mission station in the country. It was originally known as Baviaanskloof, but was renamed Genadendal in 1806. Genadendal was the place of the fir ...

was founded in South Africa.

Christiansfeld Christiansfeld, with a population of 2,977 (1 January 2022), is a town in Kolding Municipality in Southern Jutland in Region of Southern Denmark. The town was founded in 1773 by the Moravian Church and named after the Danish king Christian VII. ...

in Denmark followed in 1771. Herrnhut holds a prominent place in the history of Protestantism, as well as the broader

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...

. Zinzendorf's community influenced

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

in creating

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

and it contributed to the rise of

Evangelicalism Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exper ...

, a broad interdenominational movement of more than 300 million people all over the globe.

Population

According to the Saxon state congress in 1777, Herrnhut contained 76 homes. In the mid-19th century the population rose above 1,000, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it reached more than 2,000. Since the 1950s there has been a decline in population, which was compensated for by the incorporation of neighboring municipalities.

Location maps

File:Fotothek df rp-h 0510001 Herrnhut-Ruppersdorf-O.L.. Oberreit, Sect. Zittau, 1844-46.jpg, Map of Oberreit with Herrnhut, around 1845 File:Fotothek df rp-c 0680039 Strahwalde. Oberreit, Sect. Zittau, 1844-46.jpg, Map of Oberreit with Herrnhut and Strahwalde, around 1845 File:Fotothek df rp-c 0680057 Herrnhut-Ruppersdorf-O.L.. Oberreit, Sect. Zittau, 1844-46.jpg, Map of Oberreit with Herrnhut and Ruppersdorf, around 1845

Coat of arms

The Herrnhut coat of arms is blue and white, showing the tower of the ''Altan'' (the lookout tower) atop the Hutberg hill above the city. The name of Hutberg hill ("Hill of Watching") suggested the name of the Moravian settlement founded by these exiles on the

Zinzendorf Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (26 May 1700 – 9 May 1760) was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figu ...

estate in 1722. ''Herrn Hut'' means "the Lord's Watchful care".

Culture

Herrnhut has a church and two museums, including a museum of local history. It is the center of the worldwide

, the

Unitas Fratrum The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

, in German ''Brüder-Unität'' or ''Brüdergemeine''. Many European languages have named the Moravian Church movement directly after Herrnhut, for example ''hernhuutlus'' in Estonian, ''herrnhutilaisuus'' in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, ''hernhūtieši'' in Latvian and ''herrnhutismen'' in both

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. The former Herrnhut train station on the decommissioned railway line Zittau–Löbau has been turned into an art gallery.

Economy

Its economy is based on church administration, education, tourism and manufacturing, including a 25-pointed star that is often hung in windows and on porches during the Christmas season, which has been produced for over 150 years. It is called the

Moravian star A Moravian star (german: Herrnhuter Stern) is an illuminated Advent, Christmas, or Epiphany decoration popular in Germany and in places in Europe and America where there are Moravian congregations, notably the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania and ...

or Moravian Advent star (''Herrnhuter Adventsstern''). From Herrnhut, the Moravian star decoration has spread across Europe and America.

Gallery

File:Fotothek df rp-a 0010032 Herrnhut. Ortsansicht mit Windmühle, Zeichnung von Joh. Gottfried Schultz, 27.8..jpg, Herrnhut, 1765 File:Herrnhut, Gemeinsaal.jpg, Church hall in Herrnhut File:Herrnhut, Unität.jpg, Vogtshof Herrnhut, seat of the

File:Herrnhut Sachsen - altes Bahnhofsgebäude als Kustbahnhof Foto 2007 Wolfgang Pehlemann Wiesbaden DSCN4658.jpg, also functions as an art gallery File:Graf Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf Denkmal Herrnhut.jpg, Nicolaus Zinzendorf monument in Herrnhut File:Herrnhut Friedhof.jpg, Herrnhut "God's Acre", the graveyard of the Moravian Church since the 18th century

Notable people

Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf Imperial Count Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (September 19, 1727 - May 28, 1752) was the charismatic leader of the Single Brethren's Choir of the Moravian Church and of Herrnhaag (The Lord’s Grove), a Christian religious commun ...

(1727–1752), church writer *

Heinrich August Jäschke Heinrich August Jäschke (17 May 1817 in Herrnhut – 24 September 1883) was a German Tibetologist missionary and Bible translator. From 1857 to 1868 he was missionary of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine (the Moravian Church or Moravian Brethren) in ...

(1817–1883), missionary, linguist and orientalist * Adolf Heinrich Lier (1826–1882), landscape painter *

Hugo Theodor Christoph Hugo Theodor Christoph (16 April 1831 – 5 November 1894) was a German and Russian entomologist. Born in Herrnhut Herrnhut ( Sorbian: ''Ochranow''; cs, Ochranov) is an Upper Lusatian town in the Görlitz district in Saxony, Germany, known f ...

(1831–1894), entomologist * Herbert Fischer (1914–2006), Ambassador of the GDR to India * Martin Clemens (born 1939), Saxon politician (CDU) and former deputy of the Saxon Landtag *

David Gill (civil servant) David Gill (born 1966) is a German civil servant and politician, since October 2017 serving as German Consul General in New York. Previously, he had been Secretary of State and head of the Bundespräsidialamt, the administration of the President ...

(born 1966), Chief of the Federal Presidential Office under

Joachim Gauck Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (; born 24 January 1940) is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in E ...

References

External links

Herrnhuter SterneEvangelische Brüder
{{Authority control Towns in Görlitz (district) History of the Moravian Church Settlements of the Moravian Church Populated places established in 1722