Experience 6orly Settlement's Rich -History
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
BETHLEHEM (Lehigh Co.)
“All these fabulous pieces I’d
love to have them in my home,”
said Linda Miller, one of the per
sons who participated in the
women’s tour of Historic Bethle
hem.
She was referring to the furn
ishings in the oldest building in
Bethlehem the 1741 Gemein
haus.
But the pieces are not for sale.
Neither are guests able to photo
graph the interior nor the many
fascinating furnishings within its
walls.
When Miller and other visitors
entered the building now known
as the Moravian Museum of
Bethlehem, it was like a step
back in time. The 12 rooms of the
former Gemeinhaus still contain
many of the original pieces that
the Moravian missionaries used
in their daily lives.
The Moravians came to the
new world to evangelize the na-
Although Linda Miller,
Harrisburg, prefers the
furnishings found in the
Gemeinhaus, this rocker
discovered in a nearby
Bethlehem antiques shop Is
much more affordable.
The 1741 Gemeinhaus, Moravian Museum of Bethle
hem, is one of the largest 18th century log structures in
the U.S. Twelve exhibit rooms depict the life of Bethle
hem’s early Moravian settlers.
Lancaster FjU^mg
tive Indians. The Moravians also
excelled in education and musical
training. They are said to have
written more hymns than all
other Protestants groups com
bined in the whole world. The
Moravians were the first to trans
late the Bible in the language of
the people.
The early Moravian settlement
built the five-level house now
used as the museum to house up
to 80 people at one time. The
kitchen area was in the basement
level. The second floor or the
street level held offices and living
space, the third floor was where
church services were conducted,
the fourth floor housed the dor
mitories, and the attic was the
fifth floor.
Later the Moravians built more
houses to meet the demands of
their growing settlement.
A tour of the museum offers a
glimpse of the fascinating history
of Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem,
considered a closed community
to anyone outside the Moravian
faith until 1845.
Unlike the majority of people
during that era, the Moravians
believed in the equality of men
and women. They established the
first girl’s school in America in
1742.
Their artisans employed ad
vanced technologies from their
native Europe. About half of the
settlement worked to enable the
others to pursue missionary
goals.
As the group multiplied,
houses were erected for single
brothers, single sisters, and mar
ried people. Most of these build
ings are part of the historic town
and available for tour. Seven
acres of the original farm are
being developed as a living histo
ry museum to interpret farming
between 1748-1848, a time of
great change in agriculture meth
ods. The colonial industrial quar
ter shows the ingenious inven
tions of the Moravians as they
developed industry to support the
community.
For more information about
Historic Bethlehem, call (610)
882-0450 or visit the Website,
www.historicbethlehem.org.
The Pilgrim Room, where temporary guests stayed, is one the 12 rooms that shows
how the Moravian mission was furnished in the 18th Century.
Items used in the everyday preparation of food takes visitors back in time.
Early settlements were thought to be sparse and primitive. But the Moravians appre
ciated intricate decorations and had some fine collections of silver and china that they
brought to the new world.