Paul Gerhardt

Life events

1. Born — 1607

   Paul Gerhardt was born on 12 March 1607 into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in 1619 and his mother in 1621, leaving him an orphan by the age of fourteen.

2. Educated

   At age fifteen Gerhardt entered the Fürstenschule in Grimma, known for its strict discipline. The school nearly closed in 1626 when plague reached Grimma; Gerhardt remained and graduated in 1627.

3. Educated

   In January 1628 Gerhardt enrolled at the University of Wittenberg, where theologians Paul Röber and Jacob Martini shaped his Lutheran formation. Röber's practice of drawing sermons from hymns taught Gerhardt the use of hymnody as a tool of pastoral instruction. He graduated around 1642.

4. Ordained — 1651

   In September 1651 Gerhardt received his first ecclesiastical appointment as Probst at Mittenwalde, a small town near Berlin. During his Mittenwalde years he composed the majority of his hymns and married Anna Maria Barthold.

5. Other — 1657

   In 1657 Gerhardt was called as Deacon (Associate Pastor) to the Nikolaikirche in Berlin, a post he accepted after long deliberation. In Berlin he became a leading voice defending Lutheran confessional standards against the Reformed Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg.

6. Exiled — 1666

   The Elector's 1664 syncretic edict forbade the Formula of Concord, and in 1666 Gerhardt was removed from his Berlin position for refusing to comply. The citizens of Berlin petitioned for his reinstatement; an exception was granted, but his conscience prevented him from accepting a post he viewed as contingent on tacit rejection of the Confessions.

7. Ordained — 1668

   In October 1668 Gerhardt was appointed archdeacon of Lübben in the duchy of Saxe-Merseburg, his final position. He ministered there for eight years until his death.

8. Died — 1676

   Paul Gerhardt died on 27 May 1676 at Lübben, after an eight-year ministry as archdeacon. He is considered Germany's greatest hymn writer.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Gerhardt's hymns brought him to the attention of Johann Crüger, cantor at the Nikolaikirche in Berlin, who included many in his Praxis pietatis melica. Their friendship and collaboration continued for many years. (likely)
• Johann Sebastian Bach drew extensively on Gerhardt's hymn stanzas in his Passions and Christmas Oratorio; the hymn 'Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn' is the basis for Bach's chorale cantata BWV 92. (likely)
• The first complete collection of Gerhardt's hymns, the Geistliche Andachten, was published in 1666–1667 by Ebeling, music director in Berlin. No hymn by Gerhardt dating after 1667 is known to survive. (likely)
• Despite Gerhardt's staunch Lutheran confessionalism, Electress Louisa Henrietta of Brandenburg — wife of the Reformed Elector who ultimately dismissed him — was a great admirer of Gerhardt and his hymns. (likely)
• Some Lutheran churches in the United States commemorate Paul Gerhardt on 26 October, a date shared with Philipp Nicolai and Johann Heermann in the Lutheran calendar of saints. (likely)