Old Chapel, Bethlehem, Northampton County

As of this writing, Moravian Bethlehem is still on the U.S. Tentative List to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you're not familiar with the term, these are locations around the world which have been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They have been determined to be unique landmarks with distinctive geographic and historical identities, which have cultural significance "of outstanding value to humanity." Right now, Pennsylvania only has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites to its name - Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece outside of Pittsburgh - so if the Moravian Community is selected for the honor, it will become our third. It's a process that takes years; they've been working toward this since 2002. You can keep tabs on the whole thing here - it's very exciting! I have every intention of being there for whatever celebration they decide to have for the occasion.

Well, with all the explorations I've been doing of other counties, I realized that I haven't done a Moravian Bethlehem blog post all year. So I'd say we're way overdue. This one is a little more picture-heavy than some of my posts, because I just couldn't bring myself to stop at three like I usually do.

I've written a fair few things about the Moravians already, so I don't want to repeat myself too much for the longtime readers. For a brief recap, I'll quote from my post about the First House of Bethlehem:

Moravians the world over trace the origins of their faith to 15th century Europe. It started in 1457, when Jan Hus and his followers formed the Unitas Fratum (Unity of the Brethren) in Kunvald, in what is now the Czech Republic. Although the movement was driven underground, it eventually resurfaced in 1722 thanks to Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. He allowed a contingent of Protestant refugees from Moravia (also in the Czech Republic) to move onto his estate in what is now eastern Germany, where they set up a village called Herrnhut. Under the good count's leadership, the Unity of the Brethren was revived and the settlement attracted people from all over Europe. Since the original settlers were from Moravia, the followers of this religious movement came to be called Moravians.

The marker is situated on Heckewelder Place
near the intersection with Church Street

When they came to the New World, they first tried to make a go of things in Georgia. This didn't quite go as planned, so they came up to Pennsylvania, where they settled first in Nazareth and then, following a disagreement with George Whitefield, they moved to Bethlehem. There they began to plan out what would become the Moravian Community.

The marker cites it as the second place of worship. The first place of worship was the second building constructed in the community, known as the Gemeinhaus (clergy house), which has its own marker. In 1751 the chapel was completed. Of course they didn't call it the Old Chapel at that time; it was just the chapel. The music-loving Moravians would gather there for worship services, led by prominent members of the community. Bishop Nitschmann, whose name is mentioned on the marker, has a school named after him in the Bethlehem Area School District.

They weren't the only ones making use of the chapel, either. As the 18th century progressed, the American Revolution began to stir, and its nearness to so many significant locations meant that Moravian Bethlehem received many distinguished visitors. Martha Washington stayed at the Sun Inn and attended services in the chapel, as did  her husband. John Adams was a great admirer of the Moravians. The Marquis de Lafayette lived in Bethlehem while recovering from his wounds at the Battle of Brandywine, and he went to the chapel too. The chapel also hosted a delegation of Iroquois chieftains, as described on a plaque outside the building (seen at left). The Moravians opened their doors to most anyone and everyone. Gradually, of course, it became apparent that the chapel, beautiful and beloved as it was, was becoming too small to serve the needs of the growing community. Construction began on a new sanctuary, which was completed in 1806, and is still used today; it's known as the Central Moravian Church.

This old image was acquired courtesy of 
Lehigh Valley History on Facebook

The chapel, which started being called the Old Chapel after the completion of the new sanctuary, is still standing, although it's undergone some changes in the last 250+ years. (Who hasn't?) As the old photo seen at right shows, there used to be a second building just in front of the chapel entrance. This was called the corpse house, and you can probably guess what its purpose was - this was where the deceased were housed until their burials up in God's Acre. This was demolished in the early 20th century. (As always, click the photo for a larger view.)

Also, at some point - much like what happened to the Sun Inn - someone decided that a layer of stucco should be placed over an exterior wall of the building. No, I have no idea why anyone would come to that conclusion. In 2007, once it was confirmed that the wall in question was still structurally sound, this non-historic layer was removed to once more reveal the original beauty of the chapel. Although some more modern structural supports had been added in the early 20th century (as detailed by a nearby sign), visitors can still view and appreciate some of the 18th-century white oak timber used by the original Moravian builders, as seen at left.

I couldn't enter the chapel on the day that I took all these photographs, unfortunately. At least, I didn't have any reason to think I could; I didn't actually try the door. But luck was still on my side a little bit, because there was a tour of the Moravian Community in progress and the tour guide didn't seem to mind my tagging along at the end of the group. So I was able to walk around the entire chapel, as well as getting pictures of the other nearby buildings. Below is the photo I took of the chapel from the western side; the doorway on the far right leads to a sort of pass-through, where the timber pictured above can be seen. I heartily recommend getting in on such a tour if you manage to get to Bethlehem, because the docents know their stuff and the area is beautiful.

---

Sources and Further Reading:

Official website of the Central Moravian Church

"Visit, Explore, Experience Historic Moravian Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: A National Historic Landmark District," published by the Historic Bethlehem Preservation Association

Moravian Walking Tour and Guide Book, published by the Moravian Historical Society, 2014

Zug, Jeanette Barres. The Old Moravian Chapel: A Guided Tour. Oaks Printing Co., Nazareth PA, 1989.

Old Chapel at the Historical Marker Database

If you've enjoyed this, please leave a comment!

---

Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.