The Moravian Church in Leh

 

The old church of the Moravian Church in Leh

Lately I have been travelling through Ladakh. Before leaving Germany for India, I had been busy with building a homepage for our parish. We also use the Losungen (Moravian Daily Texts), which are issued each year by the Moravian Church, which is better known as Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine in Germany (OT: most Germans would misspell Brüdergemeine as they would expect Brüdergemeinde).

So, when we had some time in Leh, I have been stumbling into the Moravian Church. 

The Moravian Church had been established in Bohemia as part of the Bohemian Reformation in the 15th century. The Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine took its name from the place of the Church's renewal in the 18th century, Herrnhut, and Brüdergemeine means Brethren's Congregation. The church is classified as protestant and has a Hussite orientation with Lutheran Pietist influences. The Hussites are named after Jan Hus, who had been burned at a stake in 1415. My grandfather (from Silesia) told me that the Johannisfeuer (fire at Saint John’s eve) was to commemorate Jan Hus, which it actually never was, but in this way I was introduced to the Hussites during my childhood.

It’s quite strange that the Moravian church is active in Ladakh, one would have speculated that the Southern tip of India would have been more likely.

 

The new church building

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Church#Publications

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