NEW DELHI, July 26: The historic Moravian Church Settlements — first transnational nomination from the US — was on Friday inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Moravian Church Settlements include the Historic Moravian Bethlehem District in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; historic settlements of Herrnhut in Germany; and Gracehill in Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, according to the National Park Service of the US.
The settlements illustrate the global dissemination of the Moravian Church’s distinct religious and social ideals in the 18th century, which are expressed in the towns’ plans and architecture with many buildings still used for their original purpose, according to an earlier statement issued by the NPS.
The Moravian Church Settlements is a transnational serial extension of Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement (Denmark), already inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2015, according to the UNESCO website.
The extension includes three municipalities founded in the 18th century: Herrnhut (Germany), Bethlehem (United States of America), and Gracehill (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), it said.
The decision was taken during the ongoing 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi.
The amended draft decision read: “Approves the significant boundary modification of Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement (Denmark)” to include a site each in the three countries.
Delegates representing the State Parties of the US, Germany, and the UK broke into celebrations as the inscription was announced.
The US delegation included Jean Elizabeth Manes, Deputy Permanent Delegate of the US to UNESCO, J William Reynolds, Mayor of the City of Bethlehem, Bishop J. Christian Giesler of the Moravian Church, Bryon L Grigsby, President of Moravian University among others.
“We express our deep appreciation for the inscription,” Manes said soon after the inscription, adding Moravian Church Settlements in Bethlehem represent the “very best of the US”.
She also invited people to visit the site when they visit America next time.
The Mayor of Bethlehem thanked the NPS and local community in his city for their support.
“World heritage belongs not to a single town or city or even a nation, but to the entire world. And, we look forward to sharing the site, its values and its traditions with the world,” he added.
Scenes of jubilations were witnessed as delegates from the US, Germany, UK, and Denmark came together to take pictures together.
“Each settlement has its own architectural character based on ideals of the Moravian Church but adapted to local conditions. Together, they represent the transnational scope and consistency of the international Moravian community as a global network.
“There is an active congregation present in each component part, where traditions are continued and constitute a living Moravian heritage,” the UNESCO website reads.
According to the February 2023 statement of the National Park Service, the Bethlehem World Heritage Commission, established by the Mayor of Bethlehem, collaborated with representatives of Herrnhut and Gracehill to join the Moravian settlement of Christiansfeld in Denmark, which has been on the World Heritage List since 2015, to form a single World Heritage listing for all the Moravian Church Settlements.
The NPS is the principal US government agency responsible for implementing the World Heritage Convention in cooperation with the Department of State and manages all, or parts of many of its World Heritage Sites in the US, two of which are cross-border sites with Canada, it said.
The Historic Moravian District in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is a National Historic Landmark and a mid- and late-18th century planned community created under the auspices of the original Moravian congregation in Herrnhut, Germany, the statement said.
The US established Yellowstone as a national park in 1872 and initiated the worldwide movement to protect such areas as national treasures. One hundred years later, during the Nixon administration, the US proposed the World Heritage Convention to the international community and was the first nation to ratify it, according to the NPS website.
The World Heritage Convention, the most widely accepted international conservation treaty in human history, is the American national park idea being carried out worldwide.
Other world heritage properties in the US include San Antonio Missions; The Statue of Liberty; Taos Pueblo; Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park and Redwood National Park and State Parks. (PTI)
