Resumen de The gardens of the British Isles in the diary of the Austrian Count Karl von Zinzendorf in the year 1768
Count Karl von Zinzendorf (1739-1813) was one of the major figures of the Austrian Enlightenment and is regarded as one of the principal architects of the reforms introduced by Emperor Joseph II. Born in Dresden, in Saxony, he was a member of an old and staunchly Protestant family from Styria which had been exiled from Austria on religious grounds. He showed great abilities as a child and was a brilliant student at Jena University, where he studied history, geography, astronomy and botany. His particular interest was in plants, which even as a child he collected and tried to arrange symmetrically and systematically. On leaving university in 1761, the young Count was invited to enter the public service in Saxony, but returned instead to the land of his forebears, where, after conversion to the Catholic faith, a brilliant career awaited him.
