TY - CONF

T1 - Unpacking the Moravian Stars

AU - Poulsen, Rasmus Rask

PY - 2021/11/4

Y1 - 2021/11/4

N2 - Based on ethnographic fieldwork in two Moravian Church settlements in Denmark and Germany, this paper explores the discourse and use of the Moravian Star (Herrnhuter Stern) as both a religious object of the Moravian Church and, more recently, a heritage object and commercial product. The star is an illuminated Advent, Christmas, or Epiphany decoration that was first produced in hand out of paper sheets in the 1830s, however 20th and 21st century mass-production and commercial promotion has popularized the star beyond the church and it now comes in various colours and sizes. The recent commercial popularity of the Moravian Star coincides with heritagization of the Moravian Church communities and settlements in Christiansfeld, Denmark (World Heritage Site in 2015) and in Herrnhut, Germany (pursuing World Heritage). The stars are a ubiquitous presence throughout both settlements, especially around Christmas, where they are displayed throughout the townscapes, in church, in private homes and local shops. The concurrent commercialization and heritagization of the stars come to illustrate the ambivalent potentials of transforming a religious object into a heritage object. Considering the geographical periphery, declining membership and economic scarcity of both churches, congregants ask themselves if the star can retain its central religious meaning in Moravian life while it its mass-produced, or if its growing popularity might be a harbinger of a more prosperous future by way of the past. In this paper, the case of the Moravian stars come to represent the struggle among Moravians of Herrnhut and Christiansfeld to define and authorize their collective religious identity, practices and values. This happens in the context of increasing heritage formation and with the church being faced with considerable economic incentives. As such, the paper discusses the ambivalent potentials of transforming a religious object into a commercial product and a heritage object.

AB - Based on ethnographic fieldwork in two Moravian Church settlements in Denmark and Germany, this paper explores the discourse and use of the Moravian Star (Herrnhuter Stern) as both a religious object of the Moravian Church and, more recently, a heritage object and commercial product. The star is an illuminated Advent, Christmas, or Epiphany decoration that was first produced in hand out of paper sheets in the 1830s, however 20th and 21st century mass-production and commercial promotion has popularized the star beyond the church and it now comes in various colours and sizes. The recent commercial popularity of the Moravian Star coincides with heritagization of the Moravian Church communities and settlements in Christiansfeld, Denmark (World Heritage Site in 2015) and in Herrnhut, Germany (pursuing World Heritage). The stars are a ubiquitous presence throughout both settlements, especially around Christmas, where they are displayed throughout the townscapes, in church, in private homes and local shops. The concurrent commercialization and heritagization of the stars come to illustrate the ambivalent potentials of transforming a religious object into a heritage object. Considering the geographical periphery, declining membership and economic scarcity of both churches, congregants ask themselves if the star can retain its central religious meaning in Moravian life while it its mass-produced, or if its growing popularity might be a harbinger of a more prosperous future by way of the past. In this paper, the case of the Moravian stars come to represent the struggle among Moravians of Herrnhut and Christiansfeld to define and authorize their collective religious identity, practices and values. This happens in the context of increasing heritage formation and with the church being faced with considerable economic incentives. As such, the paper discusses the ambivalent potentials of transforming a religious object into a commercial product and a heritage object.

UR - https://nggheritage.nl/

M3 - Paper

Y2 - 3 November 2021 through 5 November 2021

ER -