It is said, that he died with the words of one of his own hymns on his lips. “Death can never kill us even,” from verse 8th of the Christian Song of Joy.
“[Why should sorrow ever grieve me?]”
He is buried in the chief church, probably near the altar, though the precise spot cannot be determined. A portrait in oil, hung up in the church, testifies to the estimation in which he was held by the congregation, for besides his, there are only the portraits of a few General Superintendents, and none of any of his predecessors in office.
Towards the side, at the foot of the picture are the words:—
“Theologus in cribro Satanae versatus.”[7]
And under that again, the following epigram written by J. Wernsdorf:—
“Sculpta quidem Pauli, viva est atque imago Gerhardti,
Cujus in ore, fides, spes, amor usque fuit.
Hic docuit nostris Assaph redivivus in oris
Et cecinit laudes, Christe benigne, tuas.