Paul Gerhardt

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Paul Gerhardt, copper engraving from the 17th century

Paul Gerhardt (born March 12 . Jul / 22. March  1607 greg. In Gräfenhainichen , † May 27 . Jul / 6 June  1676 . Greg in Lubben ) was an Evangelical Lutheran theologian and is considered one of the most important German-language hymn writer .

Life

Graefenhainichen

Paul, who later preferred the Latin version of Paulus himself , was born the second of four children into a host family. He received the first name of his paternal grandfather. His father, Christian Gerhardt, married Dorothea Starcke on May 12, 1605 in the Nikolaikirche in Eilenburg , the daughter of the Eilenburg superintendent Caspar Starcke , who followed her husband to Graefenhainichen. The son Christian was born there in 1605; Paul (1607), Anna (1612) and Agnes (1619) followed.

His father supported the family by cultivating his own garden land; he was also involved in the city council and was elected one of the three mayors. Paul attended the city school, where he acquired basic knowledge of the Latin language and choral singing . Like many other families in Electoral Saxony , the Gerhardts also suffered from the consequences of the Thirty Years' War - famine, epidemics and attacks by soldiers. His father died in 1619, his mother in 1621.

Grimma

Fürstenschule St. Augustin, engraving from the 17th century
Honorary bust for the former student Paul Gerhardt in the St. Augustin Grimma grammar school (main entrance)

From April 4, 1622, Paul Gerhardt, like his brother, attended the Princely School of St. Augustin in Grimma , which was considered to be the forge of the Saxon pastors and civil servants . Leonhard Hutter's Compendium had been an essential textbook since 1609 and its content influenced Gerhardt's theological understanding. In addition, the Artes Liberales were taught: rhetoric , dialectics , music and poetics . Paul graduated from this school successfully, his diploma showed him hard work, obedience and talent. Three days after passing the exam, Gerhardt left the Princely School on December 15, 1627 and moved to Wittenberg to take up university studies.

Wittenberg

Paul Gerhardt's house in Wittenberg, 2006

Gerhardt enrolled on January 2, 1628 in the field of theology and at the philosophical faculty of the University of Wittenberg . He had already dealt with Luther's teaching through parental home and school . In Wittenberg he found important teachers of Lutheran orthodoxy , but also of poetry such as August Buchner . Both fields of study and the acquaintance with other people led Gerhardt to develop a unity of piety and poetry, which later flowed into his hymns.

In order to finance his studies, he accepted a position as private tutor for the archdeacon of the Wittenberg town church August Fleischhauer and moved into his house. In Wittenberg, many people had sought refuge from the consequences of the Thirty Years' War , and the plague was rampant in 1636/37 . The church office had to create its own death books for those who died from the plague. Paul Gerhardt's native town nearby was completely destroyed by Swedish soldiers on April 11, 1637. Gerhardt's brother Christian died on November 7, 1637. The experiences in Wittenberg had a formative effect on Gerhardt. On April 26, 1642 he wrote his first occasional poem there on the occasion of a celebration for the passed master’s examination of the son of a Hamburg professor.

First time in Berlin

The Berlin hymn book Praxis Pietatis Melica by Johann Crüger, title page of the 29th edition from 1721

Gerhardt finished his studies around 1643 and went to Berlin . The population there was reduced by more than half as a result of the war, the plague, smallpox and the bacterial disturbance (from 12,000 before the war to 5,000 at the end of the war). In Berlin, Gerhardt found a job as a private tutor with the family of the appellant judge Andreas Berthold. On the occasion of the wedding of a daughter of his host, Gerhardt wrote another poem, an ode .

Gerhardt now processed the war experiences in further song texts, in which he also incorporated theological topics. With that he gave the contemporaries new courage and new hope. Gerhardt made his pastoral and spiritual contribution primarily to the Nikolaikirche in Berlin , where he was pastor from 1657 to 1667. Johann Crüger had been the cantor there since 1622 , who first published the hymn book Praxis Pietatis Melica - This is exercise of godliness in Christian and comforting chants in 1640 . A long-standing, friendly collaboration developed between him and Gerhardt. When Crüger published his hymn book again in 1647, Gerhardt had already contributed 18 songs. By the 5th edition in 1653 their number increased to 82. Gerhardt was also friends with the provost of the church, Petrus Vehr .

Mittenwalde

Paul Gerhardt monument (1905/2001) in front of the church in Mittenwalde, 2006

After the death of the first pastor in Mittenwald in 1651 and a slow overcoming of the consequences of the war , the city council contacted the Berlin consistory on the question of filling the pastorate . This was recommended by Paul Gerhardt, who through diligence and learning as a Lutheran theologian had acquired an irreproachable testimony and made himself popular in the Berlin community. After a trial sermon on September 28, 1651 and the theological examination by the church office, he was obliged and ordained on November 18, 1651 in the Nikolaikirche in Berlin to the concord formula .

He was able to take up his post in the Mittenwald St. Moritz Church on November 30th . The usual tasks of a pastor, such as preaching and giving the Lord's Supper at church services , also included official acts of baptisms , weddings , confessions and funerals . The new provost's office also included the function of an inspector for the eleven surrounding parishes ( Königs Wusterhausen , Gräbendorf , Teupitz and Gussow ).

In addition to his pastoral work, Gerhardt also cultivated the art of song in Mittenwalde . In 1653 the fifth edition of Crüger's hymn book was published, which contained 64 new songs by Gerhardt. During this time he wrote, among other things, the passion song O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden , which appeared in the subsequent edition of Crüger's hymnal (1656). It is the translation of the Latin “Salve caput cruentatum” by Arnulf von Löwen , which was ascribed to Bernhard von Clairvaux for a long time and found its way into Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew Passion .

On February 11, 1655, Paul Gerhardt married Anna Maria (* May 19, 1622), the daughter of Andreas Berthold. The couple were married in Berthold's house in Berlin by Provost Petrus Vehr. The following year, on May 19, 1656, the couple had a daughter, Maria Elisabeth, who died six months later on January 28, 1657. She was buried in Mittenwalde, where an epitaph was erected for her at the St. Moritz Church . Of another four born children, three (Anna Catharina, Andreas Christian and Andreas) died early. The son Paul Friedrich was the only one who survived his parents.

Second time in Berlin

Title page of the spiritual devotions , 1667

In May 1657, Gerhardt was informed that he had been elected second deacon at the Nikolaikirche in Berlin . After approving the election on June 4th, he performed his first official act on July 22nd with the baptism of a child. During this time, he lived with his wife in an apartment at Stralauer Straße 38.

The Brandenburg Elector Johann Sigismund converted from the Lutheran to the Reformed Calvinist creed in 1613 and elevated it to court and official religion. In the Confessio Sigismundi , however, he allowed his country children not to follow this conversion, thereby establishing an exception to the then common practice of the formula cuius regio eius religio . Nevertheless, denominational tensions arose again and again, as a result of which the Elector Friedrich Wilhelm forbade his subjects to study at the University of Wittenberg in 1662. At the same time he called the Berlin Religious Discussion , in which Gerhardt also took part as a Lutheran representative. It was canceled after 17 sessions in June 1663 without result.

The Lutheran theologians, whose center was Berlin, arose in the elector's land. Gerhardt was also involved in the disputes and vehemently defended the Lutheran position in order not to encourage syncretism . The rigid attitude of the Lutherans did not suit the policy of the elector. He saw this as a threat to peace and therefore decreed an edict of tolerance on September 16, 1664 . The ordinances of the Reformed doctrine were not justifiable for the Lutheran standpoint, as they meant the recognition of a supposedly heretical religion and thus the turning away from unadulterated belief. Nevertheless, the elector asked the Lutherans to acknowledge the Edict of Tolerance with their signature. All who refused were dismissed by the elector.

On January 31, 1666, Gerhardt was also supposed to sign. Like many others, he refused and was released as a pastor on February 13th. The citizens and trades of Berlin did not agree with Gerhardt's impeachment and demanded in several petitions that he be reinstated, exempting him from signing. The Berlin magistrate therefore turned to the elector, who initially rejected this request. Since Gerhardt had also earned a reputation outside of Berlin with his sacred songs, the Brandenburg state estates also intervened against Gerhardt's dismissal. The elector reinstated Gerhardt on January 12, 1667. However, for reasons of faith and conscience, he now renounced it. Consequently, on February 4, 1667, the elector ordered the final dismissal of Gerhardt, who was now without income.

Monument in front of the Paul Gerhardt Church in Lübben

As early as 1666 he had started to create small notebooks that were printed by 1667 and each contained 12 works by Gerhardt. These were summarized in the spiritual devotions published in 1667 as the first complete edition of his song texts. The editor was Johann Georg Ebeling , who was Johann Crüger's successor as the new cantor at the Nikolaikirche. The edition was printed in Berlin and Frankfurt (Oder) . It contains 10 dozen , i.e. 120 songs by Gerhardt, including 26 new releases. The death of his wife Anna Maria, who died on March 5th, also fell at this time.

Luebben

Paul Gerhardt, oil on canvas (around 1700). Lübben (Paul Gerhardt Church)

On September 5th, 1668 the pastor of Lübben (Spreewald) , Konrad Cnisius, died. The Council of Lübben, which at that time did not belong to Brandenburg but to Electoral Saxony , was looking for a suitable successor and, after a guest sermon - on October 14, 1668 - decided on Paul Gerhardt. On October 29, 1668, he received the appointment of the mayor and the council to the office of archdeacon at the then Nikolaikirche . Due to the illness of his son and a necessary expansion of the parish apartment, the assumption of office was delayed until June 16, 1669. In Lübben, Gerhardt did the spiritual, pastoral and organizational work to the satisfaction of the parish. He lived in modest circumstances until his death at the age of 70 on May 27, 1676. He was buried on June 7, 1676 in the choir near the altar of his last place of work, which has been named after him since 1930.

The Paul Gerhardt Church in Lübben received a memorial painting in his honor . This was created by an unknown painter around 1700 and provided with a Latin epigram by Gottlieb Wernsdorf the Elder . Its translation is:

How alive do you see Paul Gerhardt's dear picture here,
Who was completely filled with faith, love and hope.
In tones full of power, like Asaph's harp sounds
He lifted up the praise of Christ With heavenly chants.
Sing his songs often, O Christ, with holy joy,
thus the Spirit of God penetrates your breast through them.

Act

Gerhardt as a poet

Paul Gerhardt and Johann Crüger memorial plaque at the Nikolaikirche in Berlin with a line of songs: "Cheer up and sing with sound ..."

The early experiences of war, illness and death shaped Gerhardt. This is particularly reflected in his poems, which have become folk songs in their simplicity, warmth and singability. Whether he created his own or drew from the psalms of the Bible, whether he based his songs on the Latin hymns of Arnulf von Löwen or the prayers of Johann Arndt , he always managed to process the familiar content emotionally.

Gerhardt's poetry deals with the Christian church, the times of day and seasons, married and family life. The church year begins with the Advent song How should I receive you, followed by Christmas carols like happy my heart should jump and I stand here at your manger , facing the shattering passion poem O head full of blood and wounds . The Easter and Pentecost experience is combined with the joy of awakening nature, with whose animals and plants Gerhardt felt familiar. In Go out, my heart, and seek Freud , he shows the land in bloom in summer; he describes rainy days and sunshine, earthly suffering and earthly happiness. He sings the housewife's praises; but he also approaches the parents at the grave of their child or lets the deceased child speak to his parents.

Gerhardt also composed songs of consolation such as Give yourself satisfied and be quiet , Why should I grieve , I am a guest on earth and you command your way . The distress of war and the longing for peace are also reflected in Gerhardt's poetry; At the end of the Thirty Years' War he composed the song of thanksgiving to God, Praise, and now the noble word of peace and joy has risen .

The works of Paul Gerhardt known today, 139 German song texts and poems, as well as 15 Latin poems, were among others. a. Set to music by Johann Crüger, Johann Georg Ebeling and Johann Sebastian Bach . Gerhardt himself was a modest, cautious and undemanding poet.

With his songs, Gerhardt wants to awaken people's trust in a religious and personal piety. His works thus form the transition from ecclesiastical objectivity to the subjectivity of personal emotional life, from the confessional song to the song of devotion. With Martin Luther the congregation calls to God, with Gerhardt the individual speaks. Gerhardt's songs mark the beginning of modern German poetry and point the way to baroque song poetry, which Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was later to perfect.

Significance and aftermath

Although Paul Gerhardt belongs to a spiritual and poetic time that was four hundred years ago, he still lives on in the consciousness of his works today. His songs are of a deeply religious character and are a typical expression of that religious period. Gerhardt embodies an independent, natural way of thinking and feeling, although he is rooted in the traditions of Lutheran orthodoxy and adheres to them.

Gerhardt is also given the merit of having promoted the development from the confessional song to the devotional song and the confident prayer of praise and thanks. His poems have developed into folk and family songs of the Christian faith.

Paul Gerhardt's songs were soon adopted in other hymn books. During the Enlightenment , however, he was not valued and his songs were often repositioned instead. It was only after the Wars of Liberation , at the time of Romanticism and Vormärz , that Gerhardt's work found new recognition, for example through Ernst Moritz Arndt's work Vom Wort und von dem Kirchenliede.

The rediscovery of Bach's oratorios by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy allowed Gerhardt's chorals to be presented in a new way. Many of his chorale verses (above all Command you your ways ) have been part of the learning content of confirmation lessons for generations .

Gerhardt's poems have not only stood the test of time, but have become cross-border between confessional and linguistic barriers. They have been translated into Dutch, French, English, Spanish, but also into African, Asian and other languages ​​and found their way into many Catholic and Reformed hymn books . Gerhardt has thus become an ecumenical poet. Gerhardt wrote poetry for almost every occasion. The constant examination of his texts therefore makes him present.

The current Evangelical Hymnbook (EG) from 1993 contains 26 songs by Gerhardt, four more in regional sections. There are 25 in the Evangelical Reformed Hymnal (RG) from 1998 (Switzerland). The Catholic prayer and hymn book Praise God contains about seven songs.

Culture of remembrance

Buildings, monuments, memorial plaques

Paul Gerhardt Chapel in Graefenhainichen
Paul Gerhardt. The painting was a gift from Friedrich Wilhelm IV. For the inauguration of the Paul-Gerhardt-Chapel, 1844. Paul-Gerhardt-Haus, Graefenhainichen
Postage stamp (1957) for the 350th birthday
Memorial plaque for Paul Gerhardt in Wittenberg

200 years after his death, a memorial plaque was placed on his last resting place in Lübben in 1876; it was renewed in 1976; In 1907 a memorial was erected in front of the church. In 1930 the entrance portal to the tower of the church was redesigned and it was provided with Gerhardt's line of songs “Everything thing lasts its time, God's love in eternity”.

The town of Gräfenhainichen built a Paul Gerhardt Chapel in 1830 as a memorial and a Paul Gerhardt House in 1907, where the monument by Friedrich Johannes Pfannschmidt, created in 1911, is located. Lutherstadt Wittenberg keeps his memory in the Paul-Gerhardt-Stift, in the Paul-Gerhardt-Straße and the two memorial plaques on the house of Paul Gerhardt; however, the sandstone memorial plaque from 1924 on the back of the house is badly weathered.

In 1950, stained-glass choir windows by Gerhard Olbricht were added to Mittenwald's St. Moritz Church, showing Paul Gerhardt as a preacher and poet. After a festive service on July 14, 2001, a memorial was unveiled on the south side of the parish church, which was made based on the plaster model by Pfannschmidt from 1905. This is located in the Deaconess Mother House in the Paul-Gerhardt-Stift Berlin. Also in Berlin, at his main place of work, the Berlin Nikolaikirche, there has been a memorial plaque since 1957; another, which was installed in 1999, honors Johann Crüger as well as Gerhardt.

Paul Gerhardt Years

In 1957, on the 350th birthday of Paul Gerhardt, the Deutsche Bundespost issued a commemorative stamp with his portrait.

In 1976, on the 300th anniversary of his death, the German Federal Post Office issued a commemorative stamp with the initial notes and words of his song Befiehl du Your ways .

In 2007, Deutsche Post AG issued another commemorative stamp with Gerhardt's portrait on his 400th birthday . Musicians like Dieter Falk ( A Tribute to Paul Gerhardt , instrumental) and Sarah Kaiser (Gast auf Erden - Paul Gerhardt newly discovered) published jazzed up variations on Paul Gerhardt's songs.

Paul Gerhardt as namesake

Gerhardt's traces can not only be found in the main places of work. Since he worked across borders as a poet, his name can be found in many German cities and communities in schools, kindergartens, houses, streets, churches and communities. In addition, there are clubs and institutions that actively dedicate themselves to the memory of Paul Gerhardt.

Additional:

Paul Gerhardt hiking trail

Since May 2019 there has been the Paul Gerhardt hiking trail between Berlin, Mittenwalde and Lübben in the Spreewald - it leads over 140 kilometers to Gerhardt's former workplaces and provides information about his life and work in nine stages.

Remembrance day

Works (selection)

Early print of Paul Gerhardt's song Befiehl du seine Wege (1676)
  • Up, up, my heart, with joy perceive what is happening today, Easter song (EG 112, F&L 256, MG 305)
  • Commit your ways (EG 361, RG 680, NG 146, F&L 428, MG 343), based on Psalm 37 “Commit the Lord your ways and hope in him, he will do it well”. Each verse begins with one of these words ( acrostic ). Usedby Johann Sebastian Bach in the St. Matthew Passion .
  • The golden sun (EG 449, RG 571, F&L 457, MG 200)
  • You are human, you know that (RG 677)
  • You sing my soul (EG 302, RG 98, NG 257, F&L 48, MG 85)
  • A little lamb goes and is to blame, passion song (EG 83)
  • My heart should jump happily , Christmas carol (EG 36, RG 400, AK 349, F&L 206, MG 255), processed by Johann Sebastian Bach in Part III of the Christmas Oratorio
  • Go out, my heart, and look for Freud , summer song (EG 503, RG 537, AK 658, F&L 493, MG 455)
  • Be satisfied and be quiet (EG 371, RG 683, NG 149)
  • Lord, who once has your land (EG 283)
  • I am a guest on earth (EG 529, RG 753)
  • I have in God's heart and mind , the basis for Bach's chorale cantata BWV 92
  • I sing you with heart and mouth (EG 324, RG 723, NG 258, F&L 52, MG 45)
  • I'm standing at your crib here (EG 37, RG 402, GL 141, NG 17, AK 329, F&L 208, MG 251), set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach.
  • I know, my God, that everything I do (EG 497)
  • If God is for me, then step (EG 351, RG 656, NG 150, F&L 316, MG 437), translated into English by Catherine Winkworth in 1855: If God be on my side
  • Come and let us honor Christ (EG 39, RG 403, NG 19, AK 331, F&L 210, MG 261)
  • Praise all the gentlemen who honor him (EG 447, RG 570, GL 447, NG 151, AK 687, F&L 460, MG 16)
  • Now thank everyone and bring honor (EG 322, RG 235, GL 267, AK 581, F&L 53, MG 52)
  • Now rejoice here and everywhere , Easter song (RG 476, AK 420)
  • Now let's go and step , song at the turn of the year (EG 58, RG 548, NG 29, AK 709, F&L 230, MG 273)
  • Now all forests are resting , evening song (EG 477, RG 594, NG 323, F&L 474, MG 229). The hymnologist Günter Balders proved that this evening song contains personal greetings to a Berlin family. In the final stanza there are the monograms of the family members and the signet of the student of the Holy Scriptures Paul Gerhardt.
  • O head full of blood and wounds , translation of the Latin "Salve caput cruentatum" by Arnulf von Löwen (traditionallyattributed to Bernhard von Clairvaux ), used by Johann Sebastian Bach in the St. Matthew Passion (EG 85, RG 445, GL 179, NG 43, AK 372, F&L 241, MG 291)
  • O heart of the king of the world (AK 471)
  • O Jesus Christ, my most beautiful light (RG 654)
  • O world, see your life here, passion song (EG 84, RG 441, F&L 246)
  • Should I not sing to my God (EG 325, RG 724 and 725, NG 259, F&L 54, MG 18 and 19)
  • Wake up my heart and sing (EG 446, RG 568, F&L 461, MG 209 and 210)
  • Why should I grieve? (EG 370, RG 678, NG 152, F&L 387, MG 381)
  • Who is well and healthy (EG-Württemberg 674, MG 62)
  • How should I receive you Advent song, recorded by Johann Sebastian Bach in the Christmas Oratorio. (EG 11, RG 367, NG 3, AK 307, F&L 182, MG 236 and 237)
  • We sing to you, Immanuel (EG-Baden-Elsass-Lothringen 549)
  • Come to your gates, Pentecost song (EG 133, RG 508, F&L 280, MG 318)

(EG: Evangelical hymn book ; RG: Evangelical-Reformed hymn book of German-speaking Switzerland; F&L: free church hymn book Celebration & Praise ; GL: Catholic praise to God ; NG: New Apostolic hymn book ; AK: Old Catholic hymn book in tune ; MG: Mennonite hymn book )

Literature (selection)

expenditure

  • Wake up, my heart, and sing: complete edition of his songs and poems. Edited by Eberhard von Cranach-Sichart. Brockhaus, Wuppertal 2004, ISBN 3-417-24795-0 .
  • Spiritual songs . Ed. Dorothea Wendebourg in collaboration with Andreas Stegmann. Reclam, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-019058-6 (partial edition).
  • Go out, my heart: all German songs. With illustrations by Egbert Herfurth. Edited by Reinhard Mawick and with an introduction by Inge Mager . Faber and Faber, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-936618-77-1 .
  • The light of my heart . With watercolors by Andreas Felger. Selected and introduced by Oliver Kohler. With an afterword by Albrecht Goes. Presence Art & Book, Hünstelden 2006, ISBN 978-3-87630-062-7 .
  • You my soul, sing. With audio CD, selected by Gerhard Schnitter , Hänssler 2006, ISBN 3-7751-4003-4 .

Secondary literature

  • Elke Axmacher: Johann Arndt and Paul Gerhardt. Studies on theology, piety and spiritual poetry of the 17th century (Mainz Hymnological Studies, Volume 3), Tübingen and Bern 2001, ISBN 3-7720-2913-2 .
  • Petra Bahr: Paul Gerhard - Life and Effect - "Go from my heart ..." Herder Spectrum, Freiburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-05786-1 .
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Gerhardt, Paul. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 219-223.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Hans-Joachim Beeskow : Paul Gerhardt 1607–1676. A text-picture biography. Heimat-Verlag, Lübben 2006, ISBN 3-929600-30-7 .
  • Carl Bertheau :  Paul Gerhardt . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1878, pp. 774-783.
  • Volker Beyrich and Friedrich Wermuth: The poet Paul Gerhardt and Grimma, his school town - “Go out, my heart, and look for Freud” . Grimma 2006
  • Christian Bunners: Paul Gerhardt. Way - work - effect. Berlin and Munich 1993. Revised and supplemented new edition: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-525-55781-5 , ISBN 3-525-55781-7 ; 4th edition 2007. (standard work, the Paul Gerhardt biography).
  • Reinhard Ellsel: You come and make me great. Sermons to songs by Paul Gerhardt. Luther-Verlag, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-7858-0497-0 .
  • Jörg Erb: Paul Gerhardt and his songs (poet and singer of the hymn, volume 3), Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1974.
  • Lisbet Foss: Paul Gerhardt. A hymnological-comparative study. Museum Tusculanum Press, University of Copenhagen 1995.
  • Sven Grosse: God and suffering in the songs of Paul Gerhardt. Göttingen 2001 (also: Erlangen, Nürnberg, Universität, habilitation thesis, 1999), ISBN 3-525-55191-6 (Research on the history of the church and dogma, Volume 83).
  • Sven Grosse: The Spirituality of Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676) . In: Peter Zimmerling (Ed.): Handbook Evangelical Spirituality Volume 1: History . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2017, ISBN 978-3-525-56719-7 , pp. 281-298.
  • Karl Hesselbacher: Paul Gerhardt. His life - his songs. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 12th edition 2006, ISBN 3-7615-5387-0 .
  • Franz Hildebrandt : Theology for Refugees. A chapter of Paul Gerhardt . Published by the Church of England Committee for “Non-Aryan” Christians. Finsbury Press, London 1940.
  • Markus Jenny, Edwin Nievergelt: Paul Gerhardt. Ways and effect. Gotthelf, Zurich 1976 (from: Musik und Gottesdienst. 1976, issues 3 and 4), ISBN 3-85706-190-1 .
  • Gerhard Rödding : Why should I grieve? Paul Gerhardt - Life and Poetry in Dark Times. 2006, ISBN 3-7615-5477-X .
  • Waldtraut-Ingeborg Sauer-Geppert:  Gerhardt, Paul. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , pp. 286-288 ( digitized version ).
  • Dorothea Wendebourg (ed.): Paul Gerhardt - poetry, theology, music. Scientific articles on the 400th birthday . Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2008.
  • Hans-Joachim Böttcher : Gerhard, Paul, in: Important historical personalities of the Düben Heath, AMF - No. 237, 2012, p. 30.
  • Ulrich Grober: Paul Gerhardt in Berlin, Mittenwalde and Lübben (1642–1676). Frankfurter Buntbücher 30, Kleist-Museum Frankfurt (Oder) (Ed.). 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-947215-21-8 .
  • Ernst Gottlob Roth: Paul Gerhardt. According to his life and work from partly unprinted news . CT Gotsch, Lübben 1832. Digitized by the Central and State Library Berlin, urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-1-15378535
  • Hans-Joachim Beeskow: "Get out of my heart and look for Freud ..." - On the historical context of Paul Gerhardt's songs . In: Berlin monthly magazine ( Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein ) . Issue 7, 1997, ISSN  0944-5560 , p. 15–21 ( luise-berlin.de ).
  • Sikander Singh : Paul Gerhardt and the end of the Thirty Years War . (PDF) In: Manfred Leber u. a. (Ed.): Explorations between war and peace. Saarbrücken literary lecture series, 6th Universaar. Saarbrücken 2017, pp. 69–86.

List of works and references

  • Gerhard Dünnhaupt : Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676). In: Personal bibliographies on Baroque prints. Volume 3. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7772-9105-6 , pp. 1589-1598.
  • Andreas Stegmann: Bibliography of the literature on Paul Gerhardts life, work and impact . In: Dorothea Wendebourg (ed.): Paul Gerhardt - poetry, theology, music. Scientific articles on the 400th birthday . Mohr-Siebeck, Tübingen 2008, pp. 333-368.

Settings, recordings and film adaptations

  • Margret Birkenfeld : I'll sing you with heart and mouth. Chorales by Paul Gerhardt . 1977, Gerth Media.
  • Westphalian brass ensemble : Go out, my heart, and look for Freud. The most beautiful songs by Paul Gerhardt in sentences from five centuries . 1986, Gerth Media
  • Gerhard Schnitter : You command your way. The most beautiful chorales by Paul Gerhardt . 2000, Hänssler Verlag
  • Sarah Kaiser : guest on earth. Paul Gerhardt rediscovered , 2003, Gerth Medien
  • Dieter Falk : A Tribute To Paul Gerhardt , 2006, Gerth Medien
  • Reinhard Börner : Paul Gerhardt. Chorales on six strings , 2006, Cap Music
  • Philipp Schepmann ; Attila Kalman : Paul Gerhardt personally. Song texts, choral melodies , 2006, Hänssler Verlag
  • Bläserkreis Bochum : Paul Gerhardt - The most beautiful preludes and chorals for wind instruments , 2006, Luther Verlag
  • Werner Hoffmann ; Werner Hucks : Wide open both wings. Paul Gerhardt - His most beautiful lyrics to sensitive guitar music , 2006, Felsenfest
  • Movimento: In sadness my laughter. Music around Paul Gerhardt , 2006, Hansisches Druck- und Verlagshaus
  • Movimento: Full of joy without time. Music around Paul Gerhardt , 2007, Hansisches Druck- und Verlagshaus
  • Jasmin Tabatabai and Rolf Becker read: I look at you with joy , piano improvisation: Claus Bantzer , 2007, Hansisches Druck- und Verlagshaus, edition chrismon, ISBN 3-938704-27-6
  • Philipp Schepmann; Samuel Jersak : Paul Gerhardt personally. Lyrics, chorale melodies . Tape. 2. Hänssler Verlag, 2007
  • Bach Choir Siegen : The most beautiful chorales by Paul Gerhardt , 2007, Gerth Medien
  • Bach Choir Siegen: God's wonderful creation: "Go out of my heart" by Paul Gerhardt and compositions by John Rutter , 2008, Gerth Medien

Film / DVD

  • Paul Gerhardt - Get out of my heart. With the Thomanerchor Leipzig. Documentary. Germany 2007. Director: Gerold Hofmann.

Web links

Commons : Paul Gerhardt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Paul Gerhardt  - Sources and full texts
Wikiquote: Paul Gerhardt  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Beyrich : One of us: Paul Gerhardt and the Landesschule Grimma . In: Augustiner Blätter , publication of the St. Augustin high school in Grimma, year 2006/2007, issue 2, pp. 33–34.
  2. ↑ Paul-Gerhardt hiking trail opened - experience Berlin-Brandenburg on foot 140 kilometers - accessed on August 8, 2019
  3. ↑ 140 kilometers on foot - New hiking trail from Berlin in Spreewald. The Berlin area is richer by a hiking trail. Equipped with information boards, rest areas and listening stations, it should offer a varied experience of nature. - accessed on August 8, 2019
  4. ^ Paul Gerhardt in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
  5. ↑ Klaus Rösler: Elstaler hymnologist on letter symbolism in Paul Gerhardt's poems . In: Die Gemeinde , May 27, 2008
  6. ↑ DNB 1014968798
  7. ↑ matthias-film.de
personal data
SURNAME Gerhardt, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gerhardt, Paulus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Evangelical Lutheran theologian and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1607
PLACE OF BIRTH Graefenhainichen near Wittenberg
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1676
Place of death Luebben