Introduction
Moravians are a West Slavic ethnic group from the Moravia region of the Czech Republic, who speak the Moravian dialects of Czech or Common Czech or a mixed form of both. Along with the Silesians of the Czech Republic, a part of the population to identify ethnically as Moravian has registered in Czech censuses since 1991. The figure has fluctuated and in the 2011 census, 6.01% of the Czech population declared Moravian as their ethnicity. Smaller pockets of people declaring Moravian ethnicity are also native to neighboring Slovakia. Moravians are followers of Jesus who are often characterized by simplicity, humility, and generosity. While the name “Moravian” refers to a geographical region and ethnic group that was significant in the church’s history, the official name of the church is the Unitas Fratrum, a Latin phrase meaning “United Brethren.” (Today, we might use more gender-inclusive language like “United Siblings.”)
By the time Martin Luther’s reformation movement was beginning in Germany, there were already over 200,000 members of the Unitas Fratrum in over 400 parishes. The United Brethren had developed their own catechism, published the Bible in the common language, and created the first Protestant hymnal for congregational singing. But during the horrific “Thirty Years War,” that engulfed nearly all of Europe, the Unitas Fratrum was deemed an illegal church, driven underground, and persecuted. Nevertheless, it continued to create inspiring leaders with innovative ideas. John Amos Comenius was a bishop of the Unitas Fratrum and a pioneer in the field of education. The Moravian church wouldn’t exist today were it not for the immigration of refugees. As Comenius hoped, his church did not go extinct.
Instead, a group of Brethren, led by a man named Christian David, fled religious persecution and sought political asylum on the estate of a Pietist nobleman named Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Saxony (modern-day Germany). Rather than saying, “Not in my back yard,” Zinzendorf welcomed his siblings in Christ even though they weren’t Lutheran like him. Two of the settlements founded by Moravians that remain today as thriving cities are Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Long before the American Civil War, these two cities became the hubs of the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church. n the Northern Province, Bethlehem is home to Moravian University and Seminary (6th oldest college in America) and the Moravian Book Shop, which is the oldest bookstore in America and the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world.
By the time Martin Luther’s reformation movement was beginning in Germany, there were already over 200,000 members of the Unitas Fratrum in over 400 parishes. The United Brethren had developed their own catechism, published the Bible in the common language, and created the first Protestant hymnal for congregational singing. But during the horrific “Thirty Years War,” that engulfed nearly all of Europe, the Unitas Fratrum was deemed an illegal church, driven underground, and persecuted. Nevertheless, it continued to create inspiring leaders with innovative ideas. John Amos Comenius was a bishop of the Unitas Fratrum and a pioneer in the field of education. The Moravian church wouldn’t exist today were it not for the immigration of refugees. As Comenius hoped, his church did not go extinct.
Instead, a group of Brethren, led by a man named Christian David, fled religious persecution and sought political asylum on the estate of a Pietist nobleman named Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Saxony (modern-day Germany). Rather than saying, “Not in my back yard,” Zinzendorf welcomed his siblings in Christ even though they weren’t Lutheran like him. Two of the settlements founded by Moravians that remain today as thriving cities are Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Long before the American Civil War, these two cities became the hubs of the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church. n the Northern Province, Bethlehem is home to Moravian University and Seminary (6th oldest college in America) and the Moravian Book Shop, which is the oldest bookstore in America and the oldest continuously operating bookstore in the world.
© 2025 Sons of Old Germany |