In March at the beginning of Lent, we sang a few hymns by Paul Gerhardt after the church services in Somerset West and Stellenbosch. This was coupled with an introduction into the hymn writer’s life and work. Our German Hymnal is full of treasures. However, since many of the hymns are 300-400 years old, their language is at times “unfamiliar” to us and perhaps difficult to understand. But I am confident that if we learn a bit more about the context in which these hymns came into being, and about the life and times of the men and women who wrote them, we will discover parallels to our lives and hopefully be able to appreciate the spiritual depths of these hymns (even) better. One of our most well-known and most prolific poets and hymn writers is Paul Gerhardt. His verses, often set to music by his friend, the organist, choir master and church musician Johann Crüger, have become part of the cultural heritage in German-speaking countries. We can find many hymns by Paul Gerhardt in our hymn book, and many of them are very well-known. There are many reasons for their popularity and familiarity: Firstly, Paul Gerhardt wrote verses for many different occasions throughout the Church Year, Christmas songs and hymns for lent as well as morning hymns or hymns of praise and thanksgiving, so his words were continually “present”. Secondly, his poetry reflects many different life situations and emotions, drawing on experiences that we can all relate to. He describes joy, happiness and confidence and engages in praise and thanksgiving towards God. But the dark sides of life also come into focus: fear and sadness, hopelessness, trials and tribulations, desperation and threats. All of life with all its ups and downs is “alive” and addressed in his words. Paul Gerhardt also uses rhyme, vivid images and meaningful metaphors in his verses. That appeals to us and make us feel that his words are very authentic. Furthermore, his verses are always very “personal” – we can identify with the “I” that speaks there. Often his hymn texts are a mixture between selfreflection and a conversation with God (the great “You”); deep faith insights and self-exhortation intersect with prayer, thanksgiving and an appeal to the Saviour-Creator.
Of course, the tunes set to Paul Gerhardt’s verses also play a very big role! Besides using old tunes Paul Gerhardt’s friends, the church musicians Johann Crüger and Johann Georg Ebeling set many of his texts to music and thus gave them their special character and “enjoyability”. In summary we can say that all of these elements, the “catchy”, beautiful and “singable” melodies, the warm and personal tone of his verses and their expressive images have contributed to the popularity of Paul Gerhardt’s hymns in the whole worldwide Church. They have been translated into many languages, and are sung everywhere, in the Roman Catholic Church as well as in many Protestant denominations. In this way Paul Gerhardt has become a truly “ecumenical” hymn writer. For me as a Lutheran theologian it is especially gratifying that Paul Gerhardt’s words also have a solid theological foundation – they are very clear and “gospel -centred” and contain many references to biblical verses. Often, they are so to speak “theology cast in poetry” which helps us to understand complex theological concepts more easily. Of course, this is not a coincidence because Paul Gerhardt was a trained theologian. He knew something about preaching and about teaching while he was also a “pastor of souls” who cared deeply about other people and knew very well about their struggles and needs. His verses are ample testimony to that. A few words on his life: Paul Gerhardt lived in the 17th century. He was born in 1607, in a small town (Grafenhainichen) not far from Wittenberg in SaxonyAnhalt. This was – just to set it into a historical context – somewhat 90 years after Martin Luther had first made his appearance on the stage of world history. Paul Gerhardt’s life was significantly influenced by two factors: the Thirty Years’ War and its repercussions, on the one hand, and the power of Lutheran theology and Lutheran spiritual practice on the other hand. The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was fought about the predominance of either the Protestant or the Roman-Catholic denomination and about the supremacy of the emperor towards the local sovereigns. This murderous catastrophe which wiped out millions of people broke out when Paul Gerhardt was 11 years old. It meant unimaginable horrors which resonate with much in our world today: death, murder and massacres, violence, looting, raids and rapes through marauding soldiers, plagues, diseases and famines, the destruction of livelihoods and whole towns, economic standstill. Paul Gerhardt time and again alludes to these conditions in his verses.
When the war was finally over in the middle of the 17th century, its ramifications and the collective trauma lasted for years: mourning the death of loved ones, trying to come to terms with the loss of home and source of income together with living in poverty in a fragile peace marked by a huge insecurity about the future. Whole regions were completely de-populated, towns, villages as well as trade and craft, all had to be rebuilt. Apart from these general historical circumstances, Paul Gerhardt’s personal life was also full of hardships. Before the age of 15 he had already lost both parents, and his brother had died of the plague. Later, when our hymn writer was older, four of his five children died and then he also lost his much younger wife. In addition, Paul Gerhardt had great economic difficulties and experienced adversities and professional disadvantages because of his steadfast commitment to the Lutheran confession. All these challenges and all this suffering could have broken him, could have made him lose his faith, and could have led to total bitterness – as it has, with others. But Paul Gerhardt was not one of them. He became ever more spiritually mature, growing in faith and taking refuge in the triune God. We can see that in his hymns, how he continually sought for comfort in God’s promises and how he groped for and held on to God’s compassion. His words are full of “Urvertrauen” (basic trust) in God’s love, and at the same time they reflect a deep joy of life. After his theological studies in Wittenberg, Paul Gerhardt worked as a home tutor in different places before becoming a parish pastor at the St. Nikolai Church in Berlin, and then later in Mittenwalde, south of Berlin, before spending his final years in Lübben in the Spreewald region. Most of his hymns were written during these years as a parish pastor, drawing directly on his everyday experience. They are testimony to how close he felt to God and other people. And I am grateful that we continue to be comforted and inspired by his words.
Christiane Simon
