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The Scots In Germany: Being A Contribution Towards The History Of The Scot Abroad
This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.
338 pages, Paperback
First published May 30, 1973
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February 5, 2026
GR friends who are good enough to read my reviews might have noticed I am partial to books on the subject of Scots in other countries. This particular one was published in 1902 and I read it on the Open Library. I was initially confused because different editions of the book give the author’s name both as “Thomas Alfred Fischer” and as “Ernst Ludwig Fischer.” Eventually a GR Friend/Librarian sorted this out by advising that “Ernst Ludwig” were the author’s given names but that he adopted the pseudonyms “Thomas Alfred.”
The book is divided into 4 parts, “Commerce and Trade,” “The Army,” “The Church,” and “Statesmen and Scholars.” I probably found Part 1 the most interesting. It starts by looking at medieval trade between the two countries. One might have expected that somewhere like Hamburg would have been best placed for trading with Scotland, but it was Danzig (today Gdansk in Poland) that became by far the most important German trading port for the Scots. There was also significant Scottish emigration to Danzig, as well as to other Prussian towns such as Königsberg (now Kaliningrad in Russia), Tilsit (Sovetsk) and Memel (Klaipėda in Lithuania). In fact the author comments he has insufficient space in his book to describe this, and he produced a follow-up with the title The Scots in Eastern and Western Prussia. Scottish emigrants were also numerous in the inland cities of Breslau and Posen (today Wrocław and Poznań). Scottish immigration fell away sharply after the 1707 union between Scotland and England and after North America began to open up as a place for emigrants to try their luck.
The treatment of the Scottish immigrants seemed to vary according to their social status. Many poorer Scots made a living as travelling pedlars, small traders, or artisans such as shoemakers. They therefore performed a similar economic role to the Jewish population and in some cases were legally put on a par with the Jews, being subjected to extra taxes or being excluded from certain areas. In 1558 the Duke of Prussia issued an order not to allow “Scots vagabonds” to roam about the country “because they are the ruin of our own poor subjects, taking away their living and reducing them to beggary,” whilst in 1675 magistrates in Posen ruled that “No master or any other person should make so bold as to bring boots and shoes from elsewhere for sale in Posen, least of all the Jews, Scots, Armenians, Lithuanians and others who are not members of the guild.” In contrast, Scottish merchants who traded in bulk goods were respectable. Many became wealthy and advanced in social status. Some were ennobled.
Whether rich or poor, the descendants of the Scottish immigrants became assimilated with the local population, and their history became at best a dim family memory.
Part 2 was a bit of a disappointment, since it largely consists of short biographies of Scottish officers who fought in Germany, mostly during the Thirty Years’ War but also in some later conflicts, such as those employed by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years’ War. The section on the Church was of limited interest to me personally. It covers the periods both before and after the Reformation. Scotland became Protestant by the 1560s and this naturally meant links to Germany, the birthplace of Protestantism. In the 1520s and 1530s there was severe persecution of early Scottish converts, and some of these fled to Wittenberg, the very wellspring of their faith. In the end though, it was the doctrine of Calvin that took hold in Scotland, and the author suggests that orthodox Lutherans were just as hostile to Calvinism as to Catholicism.
Part 4 covered some interesting individuals, and I’ve made a note to look out the memoirs of Sir Robert Murray Keith, an 18th century diplomat.
Fischer finishes the book by suggesting that the intermixing of populations should encourage us to “bury the war hatchet.” He died in 1906, and I’m glad he didn’t live to see the outbreak of the Great War, as I think that would have pained him greatly.
The book is divided into 4 parts, “Commerce and Trade,” “The Army,” “The Church,” and “Statesmen and Scholars.” I probably found Part 1 the most interesting. It starts by looking at medieval trade between the two countries. One might have expected that somewhere like Hamburg would have been best placed for trading with Scotland, but it was Danzig (today Gdansk in Poland) that became by far the most important German trading port for the Scots. There was also significant Scottish emigration to Danzig, as well as to other Prussian towns such as Königsberg (now Kaliningrad in Russia), Tilsit (Sovetsk) and Memel (Klaipėda in Lithuania). In fact the author comments he has insufficient space in his book to describe this, and he produced a follow-up with the title The Scots in Eastern and Western Prussia. Scottish emigrants were also numerous in the inland cities of Breslau and Posen (today Wrocław and Poznań). Scottish immigration fell away sharply after the 1707 union between Scotland and England and after North America began to open up as a place for emigrants to try their luck.
The treatment of the Scottish immigrants seemed to vary according to their social status. Many poorer Scots made a living as travelling pedlars, small traders, or artisans such as shoemakers. They therefore performed a similar economic role to the Jewish population and in some cases were legally put on a par with the Jews, being subjected to extra taxes or being excluded from certain areas. In 1558 the Duke of Prussia issued an order not to allow “Scots vagabonds” to roam about the country “because they are the ruin of our own poor subjects, taking away their living and reducing them to beggary,” whilst in 1675 magistrates in Posen ruled that “No master or any other person should make so bold as to bring boots and shoes from elsewhere for sale in Posen, least of all the Jews, Scots, Armenians, Lithuanians and others who are not members of the guild.” In contrast, Scottish merchants who traded in bulk goods were respectable. Many became wealthy and advanced in social status. Some were ennobled.
Whether rich or poor, the descendants of the Scottish immigrants became assimilated with the local population, and their history became at best a dim family memory.
Part 2 was a bit of a disappointment, since it largely consists of short biographies of Scottish officers who fought in Germany, mostly during the Thirty Years’ War but also in some later conflicts, such as those employed by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years’ War. The section on the Church was of limited interest to me personally. It covers the periods both before and after the Reformation. Scotland became Protestant by the 1560s and this naturally meant links to Germany, the birthplace of Protestantism. In the 1520s and 1530s there was severe persecution of early Scottish converts, and some of these fled to Wittenberg, the very wellspring of their faith. In the end though, it was the doctrine of Calvin that took hold in Scotland, and the author suggests that orthodox Lutherans were just as hostile to Calvinism as to Catholicism.
Part 4 covered some interesting individuals, and I’ve made a note to look out the memoirs of Sir Robert Murray Keith, an 18th century diplomat.
Fischer finishes the book by suggesting that the intermixing of populations should encourage us to “bury the war hatchet.” He died in 1906, and I’m glad he didn’t live to see the outbreak of the Great War, as I think that would have pained him greatly.
May 30, 2009
A classic work on a little known subject, the many contributions of Scots who settled in Germany after arriving as merchants and soldiers of fortune.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews