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Moravian Brethren House Received World Heritage Status
July 30th, 2024 | In The News
Written for Lehigh Valley JustListed.com
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee recently named the city’s ancient Moravian Church settlement a World Heritage Site.
Early on Friday, at a UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in New Delhi, the motion to approve was passed. A group of locals, including Mayor J. William Reynolds, went to India for the historic vote.
Following the voting, Reynolds released a prepared statement, saying, “Our community has long treasured and conserved Moravian Church Settlements —Bethelehem, and we are thrilled to earn this global distinction.” “The UNESCO World Heritage Site designation is a striking monument to the ongoing heritage of the Moravian Church and the unsurpassed historical and cultural significance of Bethlehem.”
The acceptance completes a multi-year study, application, and nomination process that acknowledges the historical significance of the Moravians and solidifies Bethlehem’s and other Moravian communities’ place in history. Aside from attesting to historical significance, being named a World Heritage Site is highly desirable due to its possible effects on tourism.
There were 1,199 World Heritage Sites worldwide and just 25 in the United States as of right now.
In actuality, Bethlehem is a member of a group of four cities that constitute a global Moravian Church settlement site. Together with Bethlehem, the towns of Herrnhut, Germany, and Gracehill, Northern Ireland, are also included. Christiansfeld, Denmark, was named a World Heritage site in 2015.
The Bethlehem World Heritage Commission is headed by Mayor Reynolds, along with Curtis “Hank” Barnette, the former chairman and CEO of Bethlehem Steel, Don Cunningham, the president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., Charlene Donchez Mowers, and Daniel McCarthy, a public relations strategist and former PPL executive, according to the Historic Bethlehem Museum and Sites website.
In the 50-year history of UNESCO, or the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, it was the first multi-nation nomination for the World Heritage list. Bryon Grigsby, the president of Moravian University, and Chris Giesler, the bishop of the Moravian Church and an advisor to the World Heritage Council and Commission, accompanied Reynolds at the meeting in India.
More than two decades ago, the road to approval began. In 2016, the local site was added to a list of potential nominations. Participating in the first planning meeting in April 2002, Charlene Donchez Mowers reported that she watched the World Heritage Committee’s livestream from her home in Bethlehem. She expressed her joy at the result.
Being listed among 1,100 or 1,200 locations worldwide is quite significant, she remarked. Here in Bethlehem, precisely. “We essentially have a heritage tourism triangle if you consider the Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall (additional locations on the World Heritage List). Within 90 miles of one another, you may visit Bethlehem, Independence Hall, and the Statue of Liberty.
The Bethlehem site totals ten acres close to West Church Street and is home to structures including the 1744 Single Sisters’ House, the 1741 Gemeinhaus, and the Central Moravian Church.
God’s Acre Cemetery, the Colonial Industrial Quarter on the hillside under the Central Moravian Church, and the Historic Hotel Bethlehem are also included.
Among the settlements in the group, the Bethlehem settlement is distinct. According to the UNESCO website, Historic Moravian Bethlehem presents a settlement with significant geographic influences and does not follow the conventional pattern of continental Europe.
“With an exceptional collection of early classic Moravian Church buildings (including the only surviving Gemeinhaus in the series, and all choir buildings represented), and a clearly zoned industrial quarter with significant buildings, it demonstrates clear, functional differentiation between residential and industrial.” Supporters of the World Heritage Movement claim that recognition contributes to increased public awareness of the need to preserve cultural assets. It gives access to the World Heritage Fund, which finances emergency damage repair assistance as well as site maintenance.
Additionally, it supports conservation initiatives for World Heritage Sites that are in jeopardy, like Florida’s Everglades National Park.
The Moravians, whose origins in this area trace back to 1741, founded Bethlehem. German-speaking immigrants left the contemporary Czech Republic in the early Moravians’ quest for religious liberty. Mowers stated that she anticipates “greater awareness of the Moravian Church community internationally” as a result of the World Heritage classification. “They were teaching everyone and bringing Christianity to both indigenous people and those without church affiliations. Being the first school to teach women the same curriculum as men was theirs. “It was just a very diversified community, in terms of spirituality, quality, and diversity.”
