In 1722, Count Zinzendorf allowed a group of Moravian exiles to settle on his Upper Lusatian estate. This was the beginning of Herrnhut, an awakened community that within a few years became the centre of a transatlantic religious movement. The rapid spread of the Moravian Brethren is all the more remarkable since it did not belong to any of the three denominations recognized in the Holy Roman Empire. With a successful defence narrative that made them more acceptable to those in power by concealing their true identity, the Moravians managed to survive as a religious community. Herrnhut was a Philadelphian denomination that hid its separatism behind an alleged membership of the Lutheran Church and a chosen historical identity of the renewed Brethren Unity. As a Philadelphian congregation, Herrnhut wanted to unite true Christians from all denominations, regardless of their religious origin, in one apostolic congregation. This book examines the beginnings of Herrnhut in the period between 1722 and 1732 based on new archival research in holdings in Germany and the United States.
