Moravian Church

Christensen C.S. The history of the Moravian Church rooting in Unitas Fratrum or the Unity of the Brethren (1457-2017) based on the description of the two settlements of Christiansfeld and Sarepta

The article deals with the history and the problems of the Moravian Church, with roots back to the Unity of the Brethren or Unitas Fratrum and the Jednota Bratrská, a Czech Protestant denomination established around the minister and philosopher Jan Hus in 1415 in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Moravian Church is thereby one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world. With its heritage back to Jan Hus and the Bohemian Reformation (1415-1620), the Moravian Church was a precursor to the Martin Luther Reformation that took place around 1517. A 500 years anniversary celebrated throughout the Protestant countries in 2017. Around 1722 in Herrnhut in Saxony, the Moravian Church experienced a renaissance with the Saxonian count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf as its protector. Based on the history of two out of the 27 existing Moravian towns, Christiansfeld in the southern part of Denmark and Sarepta in the Volgograd area, this important story, to understand the Reformation in 1500s, will be told in the article.