Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von

(1700–60)

   Bishop, Ecumenist and Order Founder.

   Zinzendorf was born of an aristocratic family in Dresden, Germany. After serving in a government post in Saxony, he resigned his position in 1727 to concentrate his energies on the Herrnhuter, a community of Moravian Brethren, whom he invited to settle on his estate. His activities were regarded with suspicion by the Lutheran establishment, his beliefs were formally examined in 1734 and he was exiled from Saxony in 1736. The following year he received episcopal ordination in the Moravian Church. He spent the next few years founding Moravian communities in Europe and America and he spent his last years in Herrnhut. His aim had been to create a Church based on an emotional experience of religion, which was ecumenical and missionary in outlook.

   Although he failed to incorporate the Lutherans, he was profoundly influential on important figures such as schleiermacher and the wesley brothers. Herrnhut has since become the headquarters of the German Moravian Church.

   J.E. Hutton, ‘The Moravian contribution to the evangelical revival in England 1742–1755’, in T.F. Tout and J. Tait (eds), Historical Essays by Members of the Owen College, Manchester (1902);

   E. Langton, A History of the Moravian Church (1956);

   A.J. Lewis, Zinzendorf, the Ecumenical Pioneer (1962).