Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf (26 May 1700 – 9 May 1760) was a German religious and social reformer, bishop of the Moravian Church, founder of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, Christian mission pioneer and a major figure of 18th-century Protestantism.

He 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.

[1] His school days were spent at Franke Foundations at Halle where Pietism was strong, and in 1716, he went to the University of Wittenberg, to study law so as to be ready for a diplomatic career.

Three years later, he traveled in the Netherlands, in France, and in various parts of Germany, where he made the personal acquaintance of men distinguished for practical goodness and belonging to a variety of churches.

During a visit to an art museum, Zinzendorf was said to have experienced the Holy Spirit upon viewing Ecce Homo by Domencia Feti.

"[1] In 1722, Zinzendorf offered asylum to a number of persecuted wanderers from Moravia and Bohemia (parts of Czech Republic today), and permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate of Berthelsdorf.

Most of the initial refugees who came to this asylum were recruited by Christian David and came from areas where the early Protestant groups such as the Unitas Fratrum had been dominant prior to the Thirty Years' War.

As the village grew it became known as a place of religious freedom, and attracted individuals from a variety of persecuted groups, including the Schwenkfelders.

[2] Zinzendorf began to visit each home for prayer, and finally called the men of the village together for an intense study of the Scriptures.

[4] Continued study and prayer in small groups known as banden resulted in a sense of reconciliation in the community, leading to a powerful spiritual renewal on 13 August 1727 during a special communion service at the Berthelsdorf Church.

[5] As the renewed community of Herrnhut grew, Zinzendorf obtained a copy of Ratio Disciplinae, the church order of the early Bohemian Unity.

As he began to study the history of the Bohemians, he was astonished to find powerful similarities between the theology and practice of the early Unitas Fratrum and the newly established order of Herrnhut.

Zinzendorf and the Herrnhuters felt a strong identification with the writings of Moravian Bishop John Amos Comenius and incorporated many of the ideas of the early Unity.

[6] In this renewed community, Zinzendorf was able to organize the people into something similar to a militia Christi, based not on monastic but on family life.

[12] His famous preaching of the redemption through the blood of Christ, followed a change of opinion around 1734/35, the years before it was suspected he had adhered to the opposite doctrines of Johann Conrad Dippel.

In his first big song-book, "Sammlung Geist- und lieblicher Lieder", Herrnhut 1731, in the preface p. 16, he states a holy marriage as a sacrament together with the baptism and Lord's Supper.

Vols., and in the 1755 at Frankfurt and Leipzig published (by a local Saxon clergyman who had got hold of the manuscript): "Haupt-Schlüssel zum herrnhutischen Ehe-Sacrament".

Denn wir machen keine neue, sondern leben in JESU gemein, die allenthalben nur eine ist.