The Spirit in the Spring at Christian Spring

Christian Spring, outside Nazareth near the intersection of Rte. 248 and Daniels Road, was one of the original outlier communities of Nazareth. In that time it was common for Moravian communities to have separate residences for single men (brethren) and single women (sisters), but Christian Spring, also known as Christiansbrunn, was the only community that consisted almost entirely of single brethren.

The spring was named after Christian Renatus von Zinzendorf, much-beloved son of Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf, patron and leader of the Moravian Church or the Unitas Fratrum as they preferred to be known at the time. Christian, or Christel as some who loved him called him, was by all accounts a joyous and flamboyant character, whose holy celebrations and pageants delighted many at the Moravian community of Hernhaag in Germany. He was even thought by some to be the embodiment of the spirit of Jesus Christ. When he died at the very young age of 24, many of his closest associates came to live at Christian Spring.

So what's weird? Some of those old friends came to believe that their beloved Christel's spirit lived in the spring after his death. Among other things they pointed out how tame the trout were. The spring is said to remain to this day in the general area of the Christian Spring Hotel.

An old shed nearby

Today the community of Christian Spring is remembered by people interested in the history of gun-making in America, and also by another male demographic, so much so that an intentional community modeled on Christian Spring, the Hermitage (whose original members call themselves Johannes and Christian Zinzendorf) exists in Schuylkill County.

If the spring were cleared and marked and opened to tourists, local people might be surprised to find how many people would come from far and wide to visit the spirit of Christian Renatus and the single brothers, who are better known in some circles than they are in Nazareth.

A note: Along the Christian Spring Road (there are 3) that runs from the Christian Spring Hotel to Route 248, there is at least one white mulberry tree. This kind of mulberry was imported for silk production. There is a very good chance that that white mulberry is a direct descendant of the mulberries planted by the single brethren in the 1700's in an effort to start a silk industry, so the tree may be another piece of their legacy that has survived until today.