Gemein Haus - PLAQUE
Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Erected in 1741. The first house of worship in BETHLEHEM. Home of clergy among whom were ZINZINDORF - SPANGENBERG - NITSCHMANN - ETTWEIN - SEIDEL. Scene of the Great Wedding July 15, 1749. Place of the only school for the teaching of Indian languages.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Raised in 1741 as Bethlehem's first house of worship, the Gemein Haus stood at the heart of the Moravians' remarkable communal experiment in colonial Pennsylvania. Its rooms sheltered a roll call of Moravian leaders — including the reforming Count Zinzendorf — and hosted the community's celebrated 1749 "Great Wedding." Most strikingly, it housed a school devoted to studying and teaching Indigenous languages, part of the Moravians' unusual missionary engagement with Native peoples of the region.
Why it matters
The Gemein Haus embodies one of colonial America's most distinctive religious communities and a rare early effort to record and teach Native American languages.
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Related people
- · Count Zinzendorf
- · Augustus Spangenberg
- · David Nitschmann
- · John Ettwein
- · Nathanael Seidel
Related events
- · The Great Wedding of 1749
Themes & tags
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Gemeinhaus
Bethlehem, PA · est. 1953
Built in 1741, the Gemeinhaus was the beating heart of the new Moravian settlement at Bethlehem, its second floor serving as the community's first place of worship. In 1742 Count von Zinzendorf, the Moravians' patron and leader, kept his quarters here while directing the church's ambitious missionary work in America. Through the colonial and Revolutionary years its rooms hosted conference after notable conference, making this log building a center of religious and civic life on the Pennsylvania frontier.
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