Halle and Moravian Pietism: Conflicts, Strategies, Practices

In the last few decades, the focus of international and interdisciplinary research on Pietism in Halle and Herrnhut has increased considerably. Several studies have clearly shown that both stories are intrinsically interwoven – in both regional and intercontinental contexts. Different research approaches in both fields of Pietism have stimulated research questions in the other, but many questions remain open or have been only partially investigated and above all, despite initial approaches, a more comprehensive and in-depth comparative perspective, both interdisciplinary and international, is still needed.

For this reason, the conference welcomes current, overarching research approaches as well as questions and approaches from the particular histories of Halle and Moravian Pietism and asks how they critically relate to one another. The conference will explore:

• How does the simultaneous existence and historical succession of the two forms of Pietism invite comparative inquiry?
• How questions and approaches that are prevalent in one of the two fields can also be useful in for the other?
• How and to what extent overarching approaches and topics can enrich and deepen existing questions from a comparative perspective?

We are also interested in the question of interactions between Halle and Herrnhut.

Conception and direction: Wolfgang Breul (Mainz), Thomas Ruhland, Christian Soboth and Holger Zaunstöck (Halle) in conjunction with Katherine Faull (Lewisburg) and Paul Peucker (Bethlehem)

Organizer: Funding: Evangelical Theological Faculty of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Francke Foundations, Interdisciplinary Center for Pietism Research and Faculty of Theology, MLU, and The Moravian Archives, Bethlehem.

Program