In a town filled with its many Moravian traditions, none is more visual than the Advent Star. How and where did the beautiful "Moravian Star," displayed at so many Lititz homes during the Christmas season, begin?
The earliest Moravian star reportedly was made of paper, possibly by a group of boarding school boys in Niesky, Germany, and hung outside the school during Advent in 1821. It was red and white, signifying the blood and purity of Christ. It was long assumed by historians that, because the stars were made in a boarding school, they were used as geometry lessons for the boys in the school.
In the summer of 2011, however, a surprising discovery was made in the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, PA. The December issue of This Month in Moravian History reported that a recently translated diary entry, dated December 20th, 1820, revealed: “In the afternoon we all drank and like yesterday, some of us went to see the star in the Brethren’s House of 110 points, made by Madsen.” This entry by a young Moravian provides us with two bits of previously unknown information: first, the star maker’s name, Christian Madsen, a single Brother who likely resided in the Brethren’s House; and second, that the original star was made specifically as a Christmas decoration for use at the Niesky Brethren’s House. Further study of the diary showed that the next month the multicolored, 110-point star was displayed for the 50th anniversary of the Moravian boarding school in Niesky. The school then adopted the star pattern as a geometry project.
