Christian History Magazine Collection

by the editor of Christian History magazine from Christian History magazine no. 1

Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, heir to one of Europe’s leading families, was destined for high duties in 18th Century Europe. Since 1662 all males in the Zinzendorf clan bore the title of count in the Holy Roman Empire; thus young Nicolaus Ludwig became at birth Count Zinzendorf.

His mother recorded his birth in the family Bible, noting on May 26, 1700 in Dresden the “gift of my firstborn son, Nicolaus Ludwig,” asking “the Father of mercy” to “govern the heart of this child that he may walk blamelessly in the path of virtue … may his path be fortified in his Word.”

This child inherited, as is evident, a godly parentage within Lutheranism, and he would remain a Lutheran throughout his sixty years. But history would know him as a Moravian. Yet, if he were alive today he would probably be satisfied with neither. Perhaps the first churchman to use the term “ecumenism” in speaking of the church, this man-ahead-of-his-time had one obsession—the spiritual unity of Christian believers—Lutherans, Moravians, all.

Zinzendorf’s inheritance, spiritually speaking, was that particular brand of Lutheranism influenced by Pietism. The Pietists sought to know Christ in a personal way. For them, walking with the Savior meant being separate from the world, shunning the dance and theater and idle talk. It meant living in obedience to Christ in his Word and loving him with the heart in song and prayer. Their spiritual founder, Philip Jacob Spener, was the godfather of young Ludwig and a beloved friend of the count’s remarkable grandmother, Baroness Henriette Katherina van Gersdorf.

Six weeks after young Ludwig’s birth, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving him to be raised by three women—his mother; her sister, Aunt Henrietta; and his grandmother. Only the latter two were close to him in his childhood for his mother remarried when he was three. Zinzendorf went to live with Aunt Henrietta and Lady Gersdorf on the latter’s estate, Gross-Hennersdorf, 60 miles east of Dresden. He would know scores of moves in his lifetime, but few would be more crucial to his destiny than this one.

The young count grew up in an atmosphere bathed in prayer, Bible reading and hymn-singing. His dearest treasure next to the Bible was Luther’s Smaller Catechism. In childlike sincerity he wrote love letters to Jesus and tossed them out of the window of the castle tower. When Swedish soldiers overran Saxony, they entered the castle at Gross-Hennersdorf and burst “into the room where the six-year-old count happened to be at his customary devotions,” notes John Weinlick in Count Zinzendorf. “They were awed as they heard the boy speak and pray … the incident was prophetic of the way the count was to move others with the depths of his religious experience the rest of his sixty years.”

Young “Lutz,” as he was called, was not allowed to “forget that he was a count” even though growing up in this Pietist environment. He was tutored and trained, disciplined and cultured for future service in the court.

At age 10 Zinzendorf said farewell to childhood. He was off to Halle to attend the Paedagogium of the staunch Pietist disciple, August Francke. There Zinzendorf spent his next six years under the watchful eye of a tutor assigned by his guardian, Count Otto Christian, and under the very nose of Francke himself—he and a few other sons of the nobility took meals in the Francke household. His pious ways and high-born status, together with a rather frail constitution inherited from his father, made him a perfect target for the taunts and tricks of his peers.

Zinzendorf proved himself an apt pupil. At age 15 he could read the classics and the New Testament in Greek, was fluent in Latin and “French was as natural to him as his native German.” While not excellent in Hebrew, he showed definite poetic gifts. One biographer says he “often was able to compose faster than he could put his thoughts on paper, a gift he retained for life.”

Yet at Halle the Lord fashioned the young count through influences not entirely academic. Prior to his arrival, the Danish-Halle Mission had sent two evangelists to India. One of these had returned to Halle and often at mealtime in the Francke home would tell of his experiences. Zinzendorf noted in his diary, something of the effect Halle had on him:

Daily meetings in professor Francke’s house, the edifying accounts concerning the kingdom of Christ, the conversation with witnesses of the truth in distant regions, the acquaintances with several preachers, the flight of divers exiles and prisoners … the cheerfulness of that man of God in the work of the Lord, together with various trials attending it, increased my zeal for the cause of the Lord in a powerful manner …

Wittenberg

Instead of continuing at Halle, Zinzendorf pursued his university studies at Wittenberg in compliance with the directions of his guardian. This strong hold of Lutheran orthodoxy was not friendly turf for Pietists, but it was the proper place for a noble son to prepare for court service. The count’s grandmother, concerned about his inclination toward the ministry, sternly told him that his place was in the service of the state. Hamilton, in his History of the Moravian Church, notes how Otto Christian issued precise instructions “respecting the conduct and the studies” of Zinzendorf. A sample from Zinzendorf’s diary reveals how his tutor had mapped out his day for him—and how his “heart religion” was clearly intact at age 15:

This week I began the plan of spending a whole hour, from six to seven in the morning, as well as in the evening from eight to nine, and for fifteen minutes at a quarter of ten, in prayer. Also I resolved to pursue the study of civil law with all my energy, since I expect all sorts of interruptions this coming summer.

Examinations with Mencken. At ten o’clock I fenced. At eleven I studied the pandects. At twelve I dined. At one I played badminton (schlug volants). At two I drew. At three I attended a lecture in the history of the Reich. At four I danced. At five Bardin (French tutor) was here. At six I studied civil law. At seven I dined. At eight I prayed. At nine I studied Hoppi’s examination.

Hamilton notes that at Wittenberg “his Hallensian prejudices against the authorities at Wittenberg wore off … he reamed to appreciate these men.” True to his “obsession” for Christian unity, while still a student he put forth a great deal of effort to reconcile Francke and the scholars at Wittenberg, but to no avail. Zinzendorf always remained at heart a Pietist and was grieved later when Francke’s son and successor at Halle opposed what he was doing at Herrnhut.

In the customary fashion of the day, Zinzendorf completed his studies at Wittenberg by embarking on a “grand tour” of centers of learning on the continent. First in the company of his half-brother, Friedrich Christian, he attended lectures in Holland, studied English and visited Dutch cities. Then in 1720 he and his tutor went to Paris where he stayed for six months. He toured the lavish palace at Versailles, but was more impressed with relief work carried on at a Paris hotel. Here was forged a strong bond of friendship with the primate of the Roman Catholic archdiocese, Cardinal Noailles. Exposed to the fine arts and cultural riches, his heart inclined more and more to the Savior—less and less toward wordly interests.