Berthelsdorf, Saxony
Berthelsdorf, Saxony was photographed by James Derheim, European Focus Private Tours, as part of a private tour with a descendant of the Schwenkfelders who fled nearby Lower Silesia for Ohio, with a stop in Berthelsdorf.
Berthelsdorf lies close to the borders of the Czech Republic and Poland. Nicolaus Ludwig Count von Zinzendorf, bought the Berthelsdorf estates (Middle and Lower Berthelsdorf) from his grandmother, Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff, in 1722, and Upper Berthelsdorf from his Uncle in 1724. He built his manor house “Bethel” – “House of God” in Middle Berthelsdorf. Soon after buying the estates and calling Johann Andreas Rothe as pastor of the Lutheran parish in Berthelsdorf, he agreed to receive Protestant exiles from the Kuhländchen (de, cs) in Moravia upon his new estate.
The first group arrived in June, 1722, under the leadership of carpenter Christian David. They founded the nearby settlement of Herrnhut on the estate. They were later joined by several hundred other refugees from Habsburg oppression in Bohemia/ Moravia, now the Czech Republic. Under the guidance of Zinzendorf they united to renew the ancient Unitas Fratrum. 13 August 1727, is the date usually considered as the renewal date, which took place in the parish church in Berthelsdorf. From Berthelsdorf and Herrnhut then the “Brüdergemeine”, in English, the Moravian Church, spread out across the world, beginning in 1732 with the sending of the first Moravian missionaries.
Zinzendorf also provided sanctuary in Berthelsdorf to persecuted followers of mystic Caspar Schwenckfeld from nearby Silesia. They were forced by the Electoral Saxon government to emigrate to Pennsylvania, and Zinzendorf sent two Moravians to accompany them in 1734–35, in order to scout out the mission possibilities in America.
The former municipality had two subdivisions: Rennersdorf and Berthelsdorf.
