Herrnhut
51°01′ N 14°45′ ETownPop. 5,654Saxony and the Ore Mountains
Herrnhut suits travellers who want to see where the Moravian Christmas star was first made and walk a World Heritage settlement, and its sights close by early evening. The star manufactory opens Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00 from September to December.
Photo Jan-Herm Janßen · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Herrnhut works best as a day trip from Görlitz, Bautzen or Dresden, timed around the star manufactory's opening hours and the Kirchensaal.
Herrnhut was founded as a settlement of the Moravian Church, and since 2024 it has shared UNESCO World Heritage status with Christiansfeld, Gracehill and Bethlehem as the Moravian Church Settlements. The white Kirchensaal, rebuilt after a fire in 1945, is the heart of the town, and its sisters' side now holds an exhibition and the World Heritage information point.
More than 160 years ago, the town says, the first Herrnhuter Sterne were made in the boarding schools of the Moravian Church, where a teacher used the star to explain geometry. Children built them on the first Sunday of Advent and took the custom home. The Herrnhuter Sterne GmbH still makes the stars by hand in its manufactory, where you can watch them made in the show workshop and eat at the Bei Sterns restaurant.
Worth knowing
- The star manufactory and its show workshop close on Sundays and public holidays, and on 24 and 31 December they open only from 8:00 to 12:00.
- Bus line 10 runs to Herrnhut from Löbau and Zittau, stopping at Zinzendorfplatz and the station.
Quick answers about Herrnhut
Can you visit the Herrnhut star workshop?
Yes. The Herrnhuter Sterne manufactory at Oderwitzer Straße 8 in Herrnhut opens Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00 from September to December, with a show workshop and a discovery area. It closes on Sundays and public holidays.
Is Herrnhut a good place to stay?
Herrnhut works best as a day trip from Görlitz, Bautzen or Dresden, timed around the star manufactory's opening hours and the Kirchensaal.
