Brunswick, Anton Ulrich, Duke of—1633-1714—pupil of the learned Schottelius; a learned prince, who was a popular writer of his time.
Bürde, Samuel Gottlieb—1763-?—native of Breslau, royal secretary to the board of finances at that place.
Dach, Simon—1605-1659—a Prussian, born at Memel, professor of poetry at Königsberg.
Denicke, David—1603-1680—a Saxon, native of Zittau, a member of the Consistory at Hanover.
Edeling, Christian Ludwig, a Saxon, native of Löbegün, in Saalkreis, tutor to Count Zinzendorf, afterwards a clergyman at Schwanebeck, near Halberstadt, where he died in 1742.
Fouqué, Friedrich Freiherr, de la Motte, born, in 1777, at Neubrandenberg. He is still living at Berlin, the worthy and distinguished descendant of the brave, intellectual, and pious general of Frederick the Great; he has given a beautiful and lasting memorial of his poetical spirit, and his Christian mind, in the hymn ‘Was du vor tausend Jahren.’
Freylinghausen, Johann Anastasius—1670-1739—born at Gandersheim, in Wolfenbüttel; a clergyman, and director of the Orphan Asylum at Halle.
Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott—1715-1769—a Saxon, native of Haynichen, in Erzgebirge, and son of the minister of that place. He studied theology, in distressed circumstances, at Leipzig, but his bad health did not allow him to preach. He lived at Leipzig, and gave lectures (first as a master of arts and afterwards as extraordinary professor) on eloquence and moral philosophy, and gained as universally the reputation of an author and a pattern of pure taste, as he did love and esteem as a man and a Christian, by his integrity of conduct, and his unaffected piety and humility. Composing hymns was his favourite employment, in which, together with prayer, he spent the happiest hours of his life of suffering. All his hymns speak the simple Christian poet of the people, and many of them have lasting classic merit. His death, as was his life, was worthy of a Christian. When, in his last illness, his friends told him, in answer to his question, that the struggle between life and death might probably last an hour, he lifted up his hands with a cheerful countenance, exclaimed, “Now, God be praised, only an hour!” turned on his side, his eyes gleaming with joy, and gently breathed his last.
Gerhard, Paul—1606-1676—native of Gräfenhaynichen, in the circle of the Electorate; a zealous preacher of the gospel, and a devout Christian. That personality of expression which stamps his hymns, represents most completely the character of the German people; profound and cheerful, firm and full of repose; for which reason his hymns are the most popular. If the Church had to select only one psalmist, it must be Paul Gerhard, whose hymns are so numerous, that they would almost alone form a hymn-book.
Heermann, Johann—1585-1647—a native of Silesia, born at Rauden, the son of a furrier, early destined for the Church by his pious mother. He was minister at Koban, in Fürstenthum Glogau, but his bad health obliged him to resign his appointment, and he spent the last thirteen years of his life at Lissa. Being much tried during the horrors of the thirty years’ war, in which he several times almost miraculously escaped being murdered, his mind became more spiritually enlightened through his bodily sufferings, in the midst of which he wrote the greater number of his hymns, which are a true picture of his pious, humble, and prayerful soul. He dedicated them ‘Seinen lieben Kindern’ (to his dear children).