Portrait image courtesy of Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis, Missouri.
Schaller Hall
Johann Michael Gottlieb Schaller (1819–87) was born in Kirchenlamitz, Germany. He studied theology in Erlangen, Germany. In 1848, he immigrated to the United States at the urging of his former instructor Rev. Wilhelm Loehe, who hoped Schaller would serve on the mission field in Michigan.
Instead, Schaller began serving as a pastor in Philadelphia, later joining The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS). At the 1850 LCMS convention, when hearing arguments on the Office of the Keys, Schaller became convinced that his beloved teacher, Loehe, was in error and that Rev. Friedrich Wyneken, who later became the second president of the LCMS, was right.
Schaller moved to Michigan after all in 1850 when he began serving as a pastor in Detroit. In 1854, he moved to St. Louis and served as vicar at Trinity Lutheran Church. He joined the faculty at Concordia Seminary in 1872.
Schaller Hall, named in his honor, is a dormitory with capacity for 47 students.