Zinzendorf, Nicolaus Ludwig von

(1700-1760)

   Moravian leader

   Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born on May 26, 1700, in Dresden. His ancestors had left Austria after converting to Protestantism, and his parents identified with Pietism; the founder of the Pietist movement, Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705), was the boy's godfather. Zinzendorf was educated at the Pietist center at Halle before attending the University of Wittenberg.

   Zinzendorf abandoned early ambitions to be a diplomat and decided instead to become a Christian landowner, dedicating his life to the people on his land according to Spener's principles. He was already giving thought to abandoning the Lutheran Church in favor of Free Church associations when he encountered the Moravians. He offered his land as an asylum from their persecutions and founded the settlement of Herrnhut for them on his estate, Berthelsdorf. He imposed some discipline on the rather scattered group, and convinced the authorities that he was not harboring a heterodox group. Through 1727-28 he worked to create a common order of worship and!!!