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Herrnhut inside Berlin

Until today direct descendants of those emigrants who had to leave Bohemia in 1737 due to their protestant faith live in the Bohemian village that is part of the Berlin district of Neukölln. On a pedestal in this district is a statue of Friedrich Wilhelm I., the Prussian king who in 1737 granted asylum in Rixdorf to 350 people from Bohemia. For a long time some of the narrow lanes bore Chech names and the mala ulicka was only renamed Church Lane (Kirchgasse) in 1909. Other Bohemian settlements of the time in Prussia included the southern part of Friedrichstadt in Berlin and Nowares near Potsdam. The commitment of the refugees in Rixdorf to the principles of the Unitas Fratrum is reflected by the existence of a prayer hall similar to that in Herrnhut and a Bohemian graveyard with the characteristic flat memorial slabs at Kirchhofstraße (Churchyard Street). Until today the members of the community practice their religion and the gable of the old school house that is part of the Museum of the Bohemian Village in Kirchgasse 9 (9, Church Lane) shows the Hussite chalice.