„Stadt auf dem Berg“ Missionen der Brüder-Unität in vergleichender Perspektive.

„City upon the Hill“: Moravian Missions in Comparative Perspective The article aims at comparing the mission endeavors that were brought to existence in the colonial America by two Christian reform groups, namely, in the Spanish American colonies (the viceroyalty of New Spain, 17th and 18th century) by the Jesuit order, and in the British possessions in North America (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada, 18th to the beginning of the 19th century) by the Moravian Church. The declared aims as well as the actual mission practice of both groups will be analyzed and compared, with specific emphasis being placed upon the phenomenon of the "mission cities", communities located on the margin of the already colonized territory, inhabited only by the newly converted natives and placed under the exclusive administration of missionaries. Through a detailed study of these mission projects, their goals, methods and results, we can not only understand better the ideological roots and aims of the two specific religious groups but also of the general intellectual and political atmosphere in Europe of the Early Modern Period and the impact of the encounter with the American reality on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]