Johann Heinrich Horbius (1645-1695) was a prominent member of the German Pietist movement, which blossomed in Germany in the second half of the 17th century. The movement advocated a system of personal and practical piety. Horbius was the brother-in-law of Philip Jacob Spener, one of the leaders of the movement. In the late 17th century, the movement spread to provincial Pennsylvania with its promise of liberty of conscience. Pennsylvania had become a haven for various religious sects, including those in Germany, who longed for religious freedom.  In 1694, the Pietists landed on a sandy beach in Philadelphia, at the same point where William Penn had arrived 12 years earlier.  At that time, much to the surprise of the new arrivals, the only house of worship in the province was that of the Quakers. These strangely robed German Pietists, some dressed in Pilgrims’ costumes and speaking a foreign tongue, were a strange site for the local inhabitants. The newcomers eventually traveled north through the highlands of Fairmount, eventually settling in "Germanopel", an area of Philadelphia now known as Germantown.