ZINZENDORF, NICOLAUS LUDWIG, COUNT OF ZINZENDORF AND POTTENDORF ( I 700—I 760), German religious and social reformer, was born on May 26,1700, at Dresden. Both his parents belonged to the Pietist circle, and the lad had Philipp Jakob Spener for his godfather. His school days were spent at Halle amidst Pietist surroundings, and in 1716 he went to the University of Wittenberg, to study law and fit himself for a diplomatic career. Three years later he was sent to travel in Holland, in France, and in various parts of Germany. During a lengthened visit at Castell he fell in love with his cousin Theodora; but her mother objected to the marriage, and Theodora married Count Henry of Reuss. Zinzendorf took this rebuff as a call to special work for God, and he now resolved to settle down as a Christian landowner, spending his life on behalf of his tenantry at Berthelsdorf. His intention was to carry into practice the Pietist ideas of Spener.
The "band of f our brothers" (Rothe, pastor at Berthelsdorf Melchior Schaffer, pastor at Gorlitz; Francis von Wattewille, a friend from boyhood ; and himself) set themselves to create a revival of religion. From the printing-house at Ebersdorf large quantities of books and tracts, catechisms, collections of hymns and cheap Bibles were issued ; and a translation of Johann Arndt's True Christianity was published for circulation in France. Zinzen dorf seems to have doubted the wisdom of Spener's plan of not separating from the Lutheran Church, and began to think that true Christianity could be best promoted by free associations of Christians, which in course of time might grow into churches with no State connection. Zinzendorf offered an asylum to a number of persecuted wanderers from Moravia (see MORAVIAN BRETHREN), and built for them the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf. The refugees who came to this asylum (between 1722 and 1732—the first detachment under Christian David) from various regions where persecution raged, belonged to more than one Protestant organization. Zinzendorf devoted
himself to them.
Gradually Zinzendorf was able to organize his refugees into something like a militia Christi, based not on monastic but on family life. He established a common order of worship in 1727, and soon afterwards a common organization, which has been de scribed in the article MORAVIAN BRETHREN. He travelled widely on behalf of the Moravians, visiting America in 1741-42 and spending a long time in London in 1750. Missionary colonies had by this time been settled in the West Indies (1732), in Greenland (1733), amongst the North American Indians (1735) and before Zinzendorf's death the Brethren had sent from Herrnhut mis sionary colonies to Livonia and the northern shores of the Baltic, to the slaves of North Carolina, to Surinam, to the negro slaves in several parts of South America, to Travancore in the East Indies, to the Copts in Egypt and to South Africa.
In 1752 Zinzendorf lost his only son, Christian Renatus, whom he had hoped to make his successor; and four years later he lost his wife Erdmute, who had been his counsellor and confidante in all his work. Zinzendorf remained a widower for one year, and then (June 1757) contracted a second marriage with Anna Nitsch mann. He died on March 9, 1760, leaving John de Wattewille, who had married his eldest daughter Benigna, to take his place at the head of the community.
See A. G. Spangenberg, Leben des Grafen von Zinzendorf (Barby, 1772-75) ; L. von Schrautenbach, Der Graf v. Zinzendorf (Gnadau, 1871 ; written in 1782, and interesting because it gives Zinzendorf's relations to such Pietist rationalists as J. K. Dippel) ; F. Bovet, Le Comte de Zinzendorf (I86o; Eng. trans. A Pioneer of Social Christianity, by T. A. Seed, 1896) ; B. Becker, Zinzendorf im Verhdlt niss z. Philosophic u. Kirchenthum seiner Zeit (Leipzig, '886) ; H. Romer, Zinzendorf's Leben and Werken (Gnaudau, 'goo), and other literature mentioned under MORAVIAN BRETHREN.