ZusammenfassungDuring the 16th century the english language is not very common in the german areas. In the course of the continued Reformation movements, however, demand is increasing for personally oriented devotional literature, which British authors appear to be better able to meet. In this way, multiple versions of individual texts are created in parallel in German, which, in addition to meditation and devotion, also introduce very specific phenomena of a social reality that are relatively unknown in German-speaking areas. As Joseph Hall shows, questions such as financial speculation, capital increase or commercial law, psychology or character development are particularly attractive for readers in German-speaking countries who are completely focused on heart and inwardness. More precise comparisons of individual translations show the different techniques of the translators, but also the different interests of their regional readership.