of Wittenberg.^656 How highly his contemporaries thought of them, may be inferred from Cyriacus
Spangenberg, likewise a hymnist, who said in his preface to the "Cithara Lutheri" (1569): "Of all
master-singers since the days of the apostles, Luther is the best. In his hymns you find not an idle
or useless word. The rhymes are easy and good, the words choice and proper, the meaning clear
and intelligible, the melodies lovely and hearty, and, in summa, all is so rare and majestic, so full
of pith and power, so cheering and comforting, that you will not find his equal, much less his
master."
Before Luther’s death (1546), there appeared no less than forty-seven Lutheran hymn- and
tune-books. The first German evangelical hymn-book, the so-called "Wittenberg Enchiridion." was
printed in the year 1524, and contained eight hymns, four of them by Luther, three by Speratus,
one by an unknown author. The "Erfurt Enchiridion" of the same year numbered twenty-five hymns,
of which eighteen were from Luther. The hymn-book of Walther, also of 1524, contained thirty-two
German and five Latin hymns, with a preface of Luther. Klug’s Gesangbuch by Luther, Wittenberg,
1529, had fifty (twenty-eight of Luther); Babst’s of 1545 (printed at Leipzig), eighty-nine; and the
fifth edition of 1553, a hundred and thirty-one hymns.^657
This rapid increase of hymns and hymn-books continued after Luther’s death. We can only
mention the names of the principal hymnists who were inspired by his example.
Justus Jonas (1493–1555), Luther’s friend and colleague, wrote, —
"Wo Gott, der Herr, nicht bei uns hält" (Ps. 124).
(If God were not upon our side.)
Paul Ebert (1511–1569), the faithful assistant of Melanchthon, and professor of Hebrew in
Wittenberg, is the author of
"Wenn wir in höchsten Nöthen sein,"
(When in the hour of utmost need,)
and
"Herr Jesu Christ, wahr’r Mensch und Gott."
(Lord Jesus Christ, true man and God.)
Burkhard Waldis of Hesse (1486–1551) versified the Psalter.
Erasmus Alber (d. in Mecklenburg, 1553) wrote twenty hymns which Herder and Gervinus
thought almost equal to Luther’s.
Lazarus Spengler of Nürnberg (1449–1534) wrote about 1522 a hymn on sin and redemption,
which soon became very popular, although it is didactic rather than poetic: –
"Durch Adam’s Fall ist ganz verderbt."
Hans Sachs (1494–1576), the shoemaker-poet of Nürnberg, was the most fruitful
"Meistersänger" of that period, and wrote some spiritual hymns as well; but only one of them is
still in use: —
"Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?"
(Why doest thou vex thyself, my heart?)
Veit Dietrich, pastor of St. Sebaldus in Nürnberg (d. 1549), wrote: —
(^656) "Die wittenbergisch Nachtigall,
Die man jetzt höret überall."
(^657) See Koch, I. 246 sqq., and Wackernagel’s Bibliographie, p. 66 sqq.