Herrnhut Travel Guide

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The graveyard of Herrnhut is originally preserved. It is located on the slope of Hutberg above the town. An old linden alley leads up there. It is a solemn place. The graves have no ornamentation, just plain slabs of stone with the names and dates. Men and women are buried in separate fields. The atmosphere of the graveyard gives an idea of Herrnhuter piety On Easter morning at sunrise a service is held in the graveyard to express their expectance of the resurrection.

Even the noble Zinzendorf family had simple tombstones like everyone else, but their tombs have been lifted on pedestals in the central alley later on.

When I visited there was deep snow so hardly anything of the tombstones was visible at all. Due to the snow I did not venture up on Hutberg to the observation tower - under more favourable weather conditions Hutberg is the place to take in a great view of Herrnhut settlement.

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The oldest preserved house of Herrnhut is the one in the corner opposite the church It was built in 1729, seven years after the foundation of the settlement. It obviously was not the first house built here, but due to the fire of 1945 a lot of old Herrnhut is gone for good.

The house is a residential home.

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The church hall or prayer hall is the centre of the life of the community. It was built in the year 1756. The plans were designed by Siegmund August von Gersdorf (1702-1777). In May 1945 it was burnt down by Red Army soldiers but the community was, under enormous efforts, able to rebuild it in the 1950s.

Its architecture is typical for Herrnhuter prayer halls all around the world. The ground plan is a transverse rectangle. The building is plain, there is no steeple but simply a small bell tower in the middle of the roof. The interior is even plainer, all painted in white. There is neither pulpit nor altar, only a seat and a table for the preacher.

The back entrance to the church hall is supposed to be open in the daytime. In case it is not and you are there during office hours, ask nicely at the office of the chairman (Vorsteher) which is in the yellow house on the other side of the street (see photo 4).

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The Herrnhut stars were invented in Herrnhut and are still hand-made in the village. The original pattern is peaks alternating in red and white: the colours symbolize the two protestant sacraments, red for communion, white for baptism.

A real Herrnhut star consists of 17 square and 8 triangular peaks. Stars in any other shapes are not authentic. The peaks are mounted with little metal fasteners. Assembling the star takes a while and is part of traditional Advent preparations. No worries, it's easy and they come with an explanation in both German and English.

The traditional colours are red, white, or yellow, and bicolor with either a red interior and white or yellow peaks, or alternating in white and red or yellow and red. They come in paper for indoors or plastic for outdoors. A little electric lightbulb hangs inside to light them, available in cheaper indoor or safe and waterproof outdoor version.

Beginning as a local tradition, these stars are now sold and mailed all over the world.
Herrnhut is situated in the Lausitz in Saxony, so in that region the stars are most popular. In the 'West', churches were the first to have them. There is hardly a church in Germany that does not put up a big Herrnhut star above the altar during Advent and Christmas season. After the opening of the wall when people started travelling and visiting the Christmas markets in the East, they appeared in windows all over the country. In my living room window, for example...