God's Messenger

A major new NZ history. This is a new biography of the North German missionary Rev. J. F. Riemenschneider (1817 - 1866) who settled in the Taranaki region in the first half of the nineteenth century, based on a thorough reading of all original documents by and about him. The book places him into the historical and social context, which not only illuminates his life and work, but throws new light on aspects of nineteenth century New Zealand history. The book outlines Riemenschneider's upbringing in North Germany, his arrival in New Zealand and setting up of a missionary station in Taranaki, rifts between the missionary and his people, his exile from Taranaki and setting up in Otago Previous biographies have either not accessed all the original German documents relating to Riemenschneider, or have failed to incorporate the social and historical context. This new biography does both.