page_title: Nicolaus Zinzendorf
section_title: Missionaries and the Pilgrim Count
hierarchical_section_title: Nicolaus Zinzendorf / Missionaries and the Pilgrim Count
caption_attribution_description: English: Monument to Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Herrnhut, Germany
context_page_description: Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf 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 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 via Copenhagen to minister to the enslaved population. Zinzendorf was critical of slavery and supported the first Moravian missionaries who in spite of Danish royal support from Charlotte Amalie of Denmark faced discouragement from some Moravians at Herrnhut, the Danish West India Company, Saint Thomas planters, the risk of getting malaria and the slaves themselves.
  Born at Dresden, Zinzendorf was often influenced by strong and vehement feelings, and he was easily moved both by sorrow and joy. He was a natural orator, and though his dress was simple his personal appearance gave an impression of distinction and force. His projects were often misunderstood.
context_section_description: Zinzendorf's interest in missionary work was sparked by meeting two Inuit children converted by Hans Egede's mission in Greenland and a freed slave, Anthony Ulrich, who told of terrible oppression among the slaves in the West Indies.
  In 1732, the community began sending out missionaries among slaves in the Danish-governed West Indies and the Inuit of Greenland. Zinzendorf's personal and familial relation to the court of Denmark and to King Christian VI facilitated such endeavors. He 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 inorthodoxy caused Zinzendorf to be exiled from his home in Saxony.  He and a number of his followers moved to Marienborn (near Büdingen) and began a period of exile and travel, during which he became known as the "Pilgrim Count."
  The missionary work in the West Indies had been hugely controversial in Europe, with many accusing Zinzendorf of simply sending young missionaries off to die. He decided to place himself on the line, and in 1739 left Europe to visit the mission work on St. Thomas. Convinced that he himself might not come back, he preached his "last sermon" and left his will with his wife.
  In 1741, Zinzendorf visited Pennsylvania, thus becoming one of the few 18th century European nobles to have actually set foot in the Americas. In addition to visiting leaders in Philadelphia such as Benjamin Franklin, he met with the leaders of the Iroquois and, with the assistance of Conrad Weiser reached agreements for the free movement of Moravian missionaries in the area.
  In 1749, Zinzendorf leased Lindsey House, a large manor on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea built on the estate of Sir Thomas More to be a headquarters for work in England. He lived there until 1755.
  Missionary colonies had by this time been settled in the West Indies (1732), in Greenland (1733), among the North American Indians (1735); and before Zinzendorf's death the Brethren had sent from Herrnhut missionary colonies to Livonia and the northern shores of the Baltic Sea, to the slaves of South Carolina, to Suriname, to the Negro slaves in several parts of South America, to Tranquebar and the Nicobar Islands in the East Indies, to the Copts in Egypt, to the Inuit of Labrador, and to the west coast of South Africa.
caption: Zinzendorf monument in Herrnhut, Germany
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