As part of the settlements of the Moravian Church, Herrnhut has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since Friday. The responsible committee of the UN Organization for Education, Science, Culture and Communication (Unesco) announced the decision on Friday at its 46th session in New Delhi, India. This makes the small town in Saxony the third place in the Free State to be awarded World Heritage status after Muskauer Park and the Ore Mountains mining region.
This was celebrated on Saturday evening with a civic festival in Herrnhut. Guests included the Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer (CDU). "Without the people here, this great success would not have been possible," he wrote on Platform X. Work on the application had been ongoing since 2017. "Saxony will benefit from this important work and passion, which has led to the Unesco World Heritage title, for many years to come."
The mayor of Herrnhut, Willem Riecke, was delighted. "It's important to me that we tackle the issue here in the town and in the region and make something good out of this World Heritage status," he told MDR.
Brethrengemeine founded in Herrnhut in 1722
Herrnhut is the origin of the Evangelical Moravian Church. Religious refugees from Moravia founded the town in 1722. The missing "d" in the name of the Moravian Church is due to the language of the time; the term congregation only came into use later.
As the Moravian Church spread around the world, missionaries from Upper Lusatia also carried the blueprint for new settlements to other countries. One of these, Christiansfeld in Denmark, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. Herrnhut in Upper Lusatia has now also been added to the list via a transnational extension application, along with the settlements of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania in the USA and Gracehill in Northern Ireland.
Focus in the Moravian Church on common life
The Moravian Church settlements are characterized by simple, clear architecture with a focus on common life, work and faith, said Saxony's State Chancellor Conrad Clemens. He himself has belonged to the Moravian Church since birth, where his father is a pastor, and followed the meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee on site.
"It is an idea of living together that is based on openness to the world, equality and almost family cohesion," he said in an interview with the German Press Agency. The title was "a nice sign for Saxony, especially at a time when we are experiencing a lot of division and polarization".
The award also brought joy to the Moravian Church. "We see this as an appreciation of the values that our church stands for: spiritual life in community, solidarity across borders, trusting listening to God's word," said Pastor Peter Voigt. However, they did not want to be a museum. "For us, World Heritage means shaping the Herrnhut tradition for the present and filling the old buildings with life."
53 World Heritage Sites in Germany
On Saturday, the committee in New Delhi decided on another German application: the Schwerin Residence Ensemble was also awarded the title. Schwerin Castle and other parts of the historic city center form the Residence Ensemble. It did not suffer any bomb damage during the Second World War and extends as far as the main railway station with its Fürstenzimmer, which was once reserved for the ruling family.
The World Heritage Committee usually decides on the inscription of new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List every year and deals with the condition of inscribed sites. There are more than 1,200 cultural and natural sites in 168 countries on the World Heritage List. 56 of these are considered to be under threat. Germany now has 53 World Heritage Sites.
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