Old Chapel
Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The second place of worship, 1751-1806. Here many noted persons of the American Revolution heard early Moravian music and the Gospel. Prominent clergy were Bishops Nitschmann, Spangenberg, de Watteville, and Ettwein.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the mid-1700s Bethlehem was a tightly organized Moravian community, and this second place of worship served the congregation from 1751 to 1806. The Moravians were renowned for their sophisticated sacred music, and within these walls prominent leaders of the Revolutionary era heard hymns, chorales, and the Gospel preached by bishops such as Spangenberg and Ettwein. It was a spiritual and cultural center in a settlement that punched far above its size in the young nation's religious and musical life.
Why it matters
Bethlehem's Moravians brought a European tradition of communal faith and music to colonial America, making this chapel a witness to the cultural cross-pollination that shaped the Revolutionary generation.
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Related people
- · Bishop Nitschmann
- · Bishop Spangenberg
- · Bishop de Watteville
- · Bishop Ettwein
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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.
Bell House
Bethlehem, PA · est. 1953
Raised in 1745 by Bethlehem's Moravians, this sturdy Germanic building first sheltered the community as a Family House before opening in 1749 as a school for girls — an unusually early commitment to educating young women in colonial America. Its turret carried the town's first clock in 1746 and a bell cast right in Bethlehem that still rings, while a weathervane fashioned as the church seal crowns the roof. The details speak to a close-knit religious settlement that built for permanence and for learning.
Moravian Community
Bethlehem, PA · est. 1953
On June 25, 1742, the Moravians formally organized their community at Bethlehem, planting one of colonial America's most distinctive religious settlements along the Lehigh. Their oldest buildings still stand on West Church Street — among them the Gemeinhaus, Sisters' House, Bell House, Brothers' House, and Old Chapel — a remarkable cluster of colonial architecture built by a devout, communal society. Together they map the daily rhythm of a town organized around faith, work, and shared living.
Moravian Archives
Bethlehem, PA · est. 1953
First organized in 1757, the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem safeguards the records of one of America's oldest Protestant communities. Its shelves hold manuscripts, books, music, and images tracing Moravian life in North America from 1740 to the present — including the meticulous diaries the church kept of its congregations and frontier missions. It is a rare, continuous documentary window onto colonial faith, culture, and daily life.