1. Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brudergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figure of 18th-century Protestantism.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf was notable for providing shelter for German-speaking Moravian exiles at Herrnhut, an effort that was influenced by Pietist ideas from the Lutheran faith he was brought up in.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf was critical of slavery, and played a role in starting the Protestant mission movement by supporting two determined Moravian missionaries Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann to go to the Danish colony of Saint Thomas to minister to the enslaved population there.
From his father's first marriage to Baroness Maria Elisabeth Teuffel von Gundersdorf, Nicolaus had one half-sister, Countess Susanne Louise von Ortenburg, and one half-brother Count Friedrich Christian, who was the father of Count Karl von Zinzendorf, Governor of Trieste.
In 1722, Nicolaus Zinzendorf offered asylum to a number of persecuted wanderers from Moravia and Bohemia, and permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf began to visit each home for prayer, and finally called the men of the village together for an intense study of the Scriptures.
However, Nicolaus Zinzendorf saw the new group as a spark for renewal of all denominations, not a new and separate denomination.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf's theology recognized that at each stage of life, we had different spiritual needs and a different relationship with the Savior.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf saw with delight the spread of this Protestant family order in Germany, Denmark, Russia and England.
In 1736, accusations from neighboring nobles and questions of theological unorthodoxy caused Nicolaus Zinzendorf to be exiled from his home in Saxony.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf decided to place himself on the line, and in 1739 left Europe to visit the mission work on St Thomas.
In 1741, Nicolaus Zinzendorf visited Pennsylvania, thus becoming one of the few 18th century European nobles to have actually set foot in the Americas.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf taught that the Savior had a relationship with each believer, but a different level of relationship with the Gemeinde.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf believed it was the Gemeinde, not the ecclesiastical and political institution, that was truly the Church of Jesus Christ.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf chose an heiress, Mary Stonehouse, whom he renamed Maria Theresa.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf had been married for two years to an estranged Anglican vicar.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf joined the Moravian church in 1742 and served as a worker as a patron and deaconess within his household.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf's husband had a more difficult relationship with the church.
Nicolaus Zinzendorf wrote a large number of hymns, of which the best-known is "Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness".