Christoffel Lötter was a Trekboer (Pioneer Farmer) in the Graaff-Reinet district during the British first annexation of the Cape in 1795, and was a representative of his community in the first negotiations between Graaff-Reinet leaders and Mr Frans Reinhard Bresler, who was sent by the British Commander General James Henry Craig.
Matthias Lötter, Gold- and Silversmith from Augsburg, Germany, arrived at the Cape in December 1733, aboard the van Alsem with other Dutch East India tradesmen and soldiers.
[1] Christoffel was born into a family of well-known master Gold and Silversmiths from Augsburg who had worked in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age.
[citation needed] Christoffel and his wife of French Huguenot descent had 11 children.
[citation needed] When the British annexed the Cape in 1795, Lötter represented the community in negotiations for a peaceful takeover of the local government.