Heinrich Otto Schrader
London: J. Rodenbach, 1779
[G.S.C.] 0402
Whilst Germans had inhabited England since the Middle Ages, a new distinct group, distinctly of Protestant refugees, came from the mid-sixteenth century. They were just some of the many Protestant immigrants who came to London and wanted churches where they could worship in their own ways. Foreign congregations existed in London by 1550, the most important of which was centred on Austin Friars, a former Augustinian priory near the modern Bank of England which was dissolved in 1538. Here different nationalities worshipped separately in their own language and form. They paved the way for further churches, some of which still survive: for example, the German Marienkirche (St Mary’s), established in the Savoy in 1694, and the Georgenkirche (St George’s), established in Little Alie Street, east of the city, in 1762, are now based together within a mile north-east of Senate House. Einige Predigten is a representative of such foreign churches. Heinrich Otto Schrader, the author of the four sermons printed here, was in addition to the German teacher of the young princesses the court chaplain at the Chapel Royal—a German congregation established around 1700 in St James’s Palace, primarily for Queen Anne’s consort, Prince George of Denmark.