Moravian Church Settlements TNS nomination
February 20, 2023
The US National Park Service submitted that country’s first transnational nomination to the World Heritage List for the first time in the World Heritage Convention’s 50-year history. The nomination is for Moravian Church Settlements, which include the Historic Moravian Bethlehem District in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, historic settlements of Herrnhut in Germany, and Gracehill in Northern Ireland.
The Bethlehem World Heritage Commission 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 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.
This nomination will be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in the summer of 2024.
Good luck to Gracehill and their partners! And of course, to the Flow Country, also being considered for inscription in 2024.