He later studied at the Basel Mission Institute and then attended the Church Missionary Society College,Islington.
He labored in Cairo from 1882 to 1893, where the CMS had reopened work, wishing to evangelize among Muslims.
Upon returning to Europe for good his translation work continued, and he revised the Arabic version of the Book of Common Prayer.
However, he was also one of numerous long-lived German missionaries who acquired great proficiency in Arabic.
Anticipating later developments in evangelical missions, he was also intent on sharing the Christian faith with Muslims.