"Bright Christmas stars have long been a familiar sight across Germany during the darkest days of the year, but none is more famous - and lately as popular - as the Moravian stars from the eastern village of Herrnhut near the Polish and Czech borders. They come in different sizes and shine in varying colors. They decorate church steeples and apartment windows, and even adorn the chancellery in Berlin during Advent."
"They have been handmade for over 180 years in Herrnhut, which was founded by refugees of the Moravian Church fleeing from the historical provinces of Bohemia and Moravia in what is now the Czech Republic. Members of the church, one of the world's oldest Protestant denominations, found refuge in the German region in 1722 under the auspices of Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, who granted them asylum from prosecution by Catholics. He provided them with land where the believers founded Herrnhut."
Bright Christmas stars have long been a familiar sight across Germany, with the Moravian stars from Herrnhut the most famous and increasingly popular. They come in different sizes and colors, decorating church steeples, apartment windows, and the Berlin chancellery during Advent. The stars symbolize the Star of Bethlehem that guided the three wise men. They have been handmade in Herrnhut for over 180 years, a settlement founded by Moravian Church refugees who gained refuge under Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf. The famous star originated in a geometry lesson when students built a truncated cuboctahedron; the cardboard model was patented in 1925 with detachable points for shipping.
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