Rist, Johann—1607-1667—of the province of Holstein, born at Ottensen, near Altona, member of the ecclesiastical council and minister at Wedel; one of the most celebrated and influential poets of his day. He was, in the pulpit, as well as in sacred verse, an earnest preacher of Christianity, and was consequently attacked by the zealots of his time, because he did not preach enough upon matters in dispute, and against erroneous doctrine. To this he replied, that, “In his parish there were scarcely two persons who held erroneous doctrine, but there were many who led sinful lives.” He had great trials in his youth, and in his later years he suffered from pillage, pestilence, and all the horrors of war. “The blessed cross,” he says, “has produced from me many hymns.” Though a great number of his hymns were adopted by many churches even during his lifetime, he would never suffer them to be sung in his own church, with the exception of a Christmas hymn, which, on one occasion, he allowed the children of the school to practise, and to begin to sing on that festival, “Wenn das Volk aus der Kirche zu gehen beginnt,” as the people were beginning to go out of church.
Sacer, Gottfried Wilhelm—1635-1699—a native of Naumburg, who was at his death an advocate and privy-counsellor at Wolfenbüttel, distinguished in his official duties by a strict conscientiousness, and the most unbounded benevolence. He wrote the greater number of his hymns whilst a student at the university of Greifswald. Only a part of them appeared during his lifetime: they were collected and published in 1714, and immediately procured him the reputation of a distinguished poet.
Schenk, Theodor—born at Alsfeld, died in 1727, whilst minister of the town of Giessen.
Schmolck, Benjamin—1672-1737—a Silesian born at Brauchitschdorf, minister at Schweidnitz; a man of great piety, and very influential in his day. Most of his hymns (and they were above a thousand in number) are distinguished by a truly poetical and peculiar genius. Their characteristic is a simplicity and sincerity, which emulates that of Paul Gerhard, but without his sublimity.
Schröder, Johann Heinrich—native of Calenberg; in 1696 he was minister at Magdeburg.
Schütz, Johann Jacob—1640-1690—native of Frankfort, an attorney and member of the council of that city. His one single hymn “Sei Lob und Ehr dem höchsten Gut,” appeared anonymously in 1673, and at once excited much interest, being ascribed to Hugo Grotius and others. It has ever since been considered one of the chief ornaments of German hymnology.
Tersteegen, Gerhard—1697-1769—born at Mörs; he resided at Mülheim an der Ruhr, as a ribbon-maker; a gentle heaven-inspired soul, whose hymns are the reflection of a heavenly, happy life, his mind being full of a childlike simplicity.
Wiesenmayer (or Wiedemayer), Burchard, the author, not otherwise known, of several hymns. The first line of his Morning Hymn is in imitation of Nicolai’s more celebrated hymn, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern.”
Wülffer, Daniel—1617-1685—born at Nuremburg, a professor and minister in that city. The hymn “O Ewigkeit, O Ewigkeit,” is a serious and pious consideration of, and apostrophe to, Eternity, which in the last verse replies to man. The first seven verses, as far as the words “O lange Freud, O langes Leid,” Wülffer found in an old hymn-book, perhaps that of Cologne; he improved them, and added the spirited conclusion.
Zihn, Johann Friedrich—1650-1719—Archdeacon at Suhla, in the province of Henneberg, of which place he was a native. He was the author of six hymns, of which “Gott lebet noch” is the best known.