Moravian Church Hall, Herrnhut
Kirchensaal der Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine51°01′ N 14°45′ E
Herrnhut's Kirchensaal suits travellers who want the quiet, white meeting hall of the Moravian Church at the heart of a World Heritage settlement, and its 2026 Christmas service times are not out yet. It seats about 600 people.
Photo Derbrauni · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
The Moravian Church laid the foundation of its great hall in 1756 and finished it the next year. On the night of 8 to 9 May 1945 the hall burned out completely in an arson fire that took much of the town centre with it. The congregation rebuilt it from 1951 and consecrated it again in 1953, and the roof turret went back on in 1956. Since 2018 the state has listed it as a monument of national importance, and a long restoration has brought back the gallery on the sisters' side and the organ.
Since 2024 Herrnhut has formed the UNESCO World Heritage site Moravian Church Settlements together with Christiansfeld in Denmark, Gracehill in Northern Ireland and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. The hall's cross-wise plan and its roof turret mark it out as the settlement's church. The restoration extended the organ in the manner of David Tannenberg, who left nearby Berthelsdorf for Pennsylvania in the 18th century and founded a Moravian organ-building tradition there.
Worth knowing
- Visit the sisters' side of the building for the exhibition on the Moravian Church and the World Heritage information point.
- Ask the congregation's guest office about guided visits; it runs the welcome program for visitors to Herrnhut.
Quick answers about Moravian Church Hall, Herrnhut
Is Herrnhut a UNESCO World Heritage site?
Yes. Herrnhut was inscribed in 2024 with Bethlehem, Christiansfeld and Gracehill as the transnational World Heritage site Moravian Church Settlements.