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Walk through history as we guide you to things to learn, places to discover, and events that help connect us to our rich heritage.
View incredible history and architecture at the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, located in the 1741 Gemeinhaus, a National Historic Landmark, and a part of the Moravian Church Settlements – Bethlehem World Heritage Inscription.
About the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem
The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem introduces guests to the earliest history of the Bethlehem community. On tours, guests discover the remarkable stories behind Bethlehem’s founders, including early Moravian communal living, medicinal practices, missionary work, and progressive educational system.
The Moravian Museum of Bethlehem complex includes some of Lehigh Valley’s most important and oldest buildings. Due to its incredible history and architecture, the Gemeinhaus has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is part of Historic Moravian Bethlehem’s National Historic Landmark District.
Tickets to the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem
NEW! Moravian Satellite Tour
Join us at 12 PM, on days the Moravian Museum is open, for a tour of other Moravian buildings! You will visit the Single Sister’s House, the 1752 Apothecary, and the Nain-Schober House. The tour leaves from the Moravian Museum and is included as a part of your Moravian Museum Admission.
The tour will be offered through December 15 and will restart in the new year
NEW! Moravian Museum, Heritage Trail & Cemetery Tour Combo
Spend the day enjoying the history of Bethlehem! Visit the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, and download the heritage trail and cemetery tours for an in-depth look at the history of Bethlehem.
With this new offering visit the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, where you can learn about the earliest history of the Bethlehem community during the museum’s open hours; then head outside and at your own pace, learn more about the history of Bethlehem through the Heritage Trail and our brand new Cemetery Tours (God’s Acre and Nisky Hill).
Bethlehem’s Oldest Building, a National Historic Landmark
The 1741 Gemeinhaus, home of the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, was designated a National Historic Landmark as the birthplace and residence of Lewis David von Schweinitz, the Father of American Mycology. Today, the Gemeinhaus, or community house, is believed to be the largest 18th-century log structure in continuous use in the United States.
Built of white oak timbers in the German Colonial style, it was constructed in two stages with the center and western portions begun in 1741 and the eastern section begun in 1742 and completed in 1743.
The Gemeinhaus has a two-story attic and a partial cellar, with herringbone-patterned double doors on the south façade with wooden entrance porches, and a steep roof with kicked eaves typical of this architectural style. The original roof was made of wooden shingles replaced with slate in the 19th century. There is a small clapboard one-story addition on the northwest façade, part of a series of wooden sheds which no longer exist.
For a few years the entire community, approximately 80 people, lived together in this structure providing home, church, classrooms, kitchens, workrooms, and healthcare as the community was building their choir (residential) houses along Church Street.
In 1751, the Old Chapel was built into the northeast end of the structure. At one time, in the mid-1700s, the logs were painted red to help preserve them. In 1777, the Gemeinhaus was parged with stucco and scored to resemble coursed stone, remnants of which remain under the southwest entrance porch. In 1868, the parging was removed and replaced with wooden clapboards.
The Gemeinhaus remained a residence for single and widowed women until 1966 when it became home to the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem. According to the cross-sectional view of the building from 1742-43 and pre-1772 floor plans, the basic floor plan of the building remains virtually unchanged.
In January 2021, 88 shutters on the 1741 Gemeinhaus were removed to be restored and painted with historically accurate paint color. They were reinstalled in April 2021 and repairs were made to the shutter dog or shutter catch, the device that keeps the shutters open against the wall.
