LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Concordia Lutheran Seminary

THREINEN: FRIEDRICH MICHAEL ZIEGENHAGEN 57
a broader scale, i.e., as it was manifested in locations other than Halle.
Among the eighteenth century centres of Halle Pietism which are currently
receiving greater attention is London, England, where the German Lutheran
Court Chaplain of the day served an important function in facilitating Halle
Pietism to make an impact as far away as India and North America. That the
work of Halle Pietists in London was done in co-operation with
organizations like the Anglican Society for the Promotion of Christian
Knowledge (SPCK) and, in the case of the Tranquebar Mission in India, also
with government authorities in Denmark, adds to the complexity of the
historical developments of Halle Pietism in London and to the difficulty of
understanding the historical happenings associated with it.
As evidence that a more serious look is being taken at Halle Pietism in
London, we have two recent studies on Anton Wilhelm Boehme (Boehm)
the first German Lutheran Court Chaplain in London with a Halle Pietist
orientation. 2 So far no one has seriously focussed on Friedrich Michael
Ziegenhagen, who followed Boehm and served a much longer time in office.
While he receives some attention in one of these studies, no similar study to
what has been done with Boehm has yet been undertaken on Ziegenhagen.
As was the case with August Herman Francke in Halle, the reason may again
be that Boehm serves the function of a founder; it is often more difficulty to
get excited about the person who builds on the work of the founder.
It is not that researchers in the field have lacked an appreciation of
Ziegenhagen entirely. Renate Wilson, who typifies the people conducting
current research into Halle Pietism, has expressed disappointment that no
serious work on Ziegenhagen has been done in spite of “his prominence
during the period and in the field at issue.” 3 Similarly, a standard work in the
field describes Ziegenhagen as “an organizing middleman between London
and the Franckes … with their plans to meet the Protestant crisis in Central
Europe, and to provide for the needs of the rocketing German population in
America. From the point of view of the Franckes, Ziegenhagen was
indispensable.” 4 Finally, Daniel Brunner correctly makes the comment that
“Ziegenhagen’s years marked the pinnacle of the German Lutheran Royal
Chapel.” 5
2 Daniel L. Brunner, Halle Pietists in England: Antony William Boehm and the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge (Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1993), volume 29 of
Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Pietismus, edited by K. Aland, E. Peschke, and G. Schaefer;
Arno Sames, Anton Wilhelm Boehme (1996), volume 26 of the same series.
3 Renate Wilson, “Continental Protestant Refugees and their Protectors in Germany and
London: Commercial and Charitable Networks”, in Pietismus und Neuzeit (Goettingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1995) 20:109.
4 W. R. Ward, The Protestant Evangelical Awakening (Cambridge University Press, 1992)
307.
5 Brunner 58.