The ''Ausbund'' ("Paragon" in German) is the oldest

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

and one of the oldest

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

song books in continuous use. It is used today by North American

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

congregations.

History

The core of the ''Ausbund'' is based on fifty-one songs written by Anabaptists from

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Eleven of these songs were written by their leader, Michael Schneider. Twelve others may have been written by Hans Betz. The hymns were composed in the

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

of Passau Castle, where the Anabaptists were imprisoned between 1535 and 1540 because of their convictions. Some—among them Hans Betz—did not survive the imprisonment. Many of these imprisoned Anabaptists were

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

ed. The collection was printed in 1564. A copy of this first printing is found at the

Mennonite Historical Library The Mennonite Historical Library (MHL) is considered the world's most prominent and complete collection of resources and artifacts pertaining to Mennonites and related Anabaptist groups. It is housed in the Harold and Wilma Good Library on the c ...

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, a ...

, bearing the title ''Etliche schöne christliche Gesäng wie dieselbigen zu Passau von den Schweizer Brüdern in der Gefenknus im Schloss durch göttliche Gnade gedicht und gesungen warden. Ps. 139'' (Several Beautiful Christian Songs Which Were Written and Sung Through God's Grace by the Swiss Brethren in the Passau Castle Prison). The printed hymnal must have been widely circulated. By the Frankenthaler Colloquiums (1571) it was already used as a source of criticism by opponents of Anabaptism. Another edition of the hymnal with eighty more songs appeared in 1583. This is the first edition where the word ''Ausbund'' appears on the title page: ''Ausbund. Das ist etliche schöne christenliche Lieder, etc. Allen und jeden Christen, welcher Religion sie seien, unpartheyisch nützlich.'' Later editions included 137 (Europe) and 140 (North America) songs. In all there are eleven known European editions of the ''Ausbund''. In the 16th and 17th centuries the hymnals were published in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

. In the 18th and 19th centuries new editions appeared in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

und

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. The last European edition was printed in

in 1838. The first American ''Ausbund'' appeared in 1742 and was printed at Christopher Saur's Germantown press.

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

Bishop Henry Funck was the publisher of this hymnal, which was used until the end of the 18th century by the Swiss Mennonite churches. It was replaced by ''Die kleine geistliche Harfe'' and ''Unpartheyisches Gesangbuch'' of 1804, both from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The ''Ausbund'' is now exclusively used in Amish worship, preserving the unique spirit of the 17th-century Anabaptists. A number of the hymns have been translated into English both in book reference form and also set to music as found in the ''Christian Hymnary'' where it is used in many Conservative Mennonite worship services.

Characteristics

The oldest songs from the ''Ausbund'' are mainly about the suffering church in a hostile environment. At the center stand those serious Christians who are prepared to die for their faith. They reflect not only

grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

and despair, but also the understanding of God's presence. There are always more reasons to thank God as one pours out their troubles. Among others, song number 131, ''O Gott, Vater, wir loben dich und deine Güte preisen wir'' (O God, Father, we praise you and your kindness we praise), today is sung at beginning of each Amish worship service.

Content

The first song of the ''Ausbund'' is from the pen of

Sebastian Franck Sebastian Franck (20 January 1499 Donauwörth, Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia – c. 1543 Basel, Switzerland) was a 16th-century Germany, German freethinker, humanism, humanist, and Radical Reformation, radical reformer. Biography Franck was born in 1 ...

. The song teaches that Christians should sing in spirit and truth, pray and praise God with Psalms. The second song is an adaptation of the Athanasian Creed. Songs 6, 7 and 8 are written by Felix Manz,

Michael Sattler Michael Sattler (1490 – 20 May 1527) was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing t ...

and Hans Hut, all Anabaptist martyrs. Other martyr songs are by Leonhard Schiemer, Hans Schlaffer, George Blaurock and Hans Leupold, who were among the victims of the first great persecution of Anabaptists. Hans Büchl, participant in the Frankenthaler Colloquiums, is the writer of five ''Ausbund'' songs. Eleven songs are of Dutch origin. The Dutch Anabaptists wrote another eleven songs. Five songs are from the Bohemian Brothers. Many of ''Ausbund'' songs have a teaching character: Bible lessons, the Anabaptist views on believers baptism, the Lord's Supper and a focus on

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

. Songs in this last topic include Büchl's (Nr. 46): ''Ain new christelich Lied von der gegenwardig schröcklichen letzten Dagen, in welchen so vil verschieden secten, auffrührerisch und falsche Propheten erschainen, auch blutdirstige tyrannen'' (A new Christian song from the current terrible last days, in which many different sects, rebellious and false prophets and bloodthirsty tyrants appear). Until 1809 the European ''Ausbund'' was distributed with no indication of location or publisher. From 1692 the government of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

forbade the distribution or possession of this hymnal and ordered its confiscation under threat of severe punishment. The American edition contains the confession of faith of Thomas von Imbroich (1558) entitled ''Wahrhaftigen Bericht über die große Trübsal, die die Geschwister rund um Zürich für ihre Glaubenssache zwischen 1635 und 1645 zu erleiden hatten'' (a collection of martyr stories). From a literary viewpoint the content of the ''Ausbund'' is of limited quality, yet witnesses of a deep religious belief and sacrificial devotion of the believers.

Music

The ''Ausbund'' contains no notes; most of the songs were sung to popular melodies. According to the research of George Pullen Jackson, some melodies came from folk and love songs and others from chorales and hymns. The oldest melodies are from the 13th and 14th centuries. As with most Christian hymnbooks, the Amish normally use the ''Ausbund'' only in church. Their traditional melodies are called "slow tunes", but they put other melodies on the words during singing. Author Joseph Yoder compared the slow tempo of the music as it is sung today to

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

, but this was not always the case. The Amish slow tunes of the 20th century are probably descended from tunes that the original Anabaptists knew. But over time, and with neither written notation nor musical instruments to keep the beat, the tunes have slowed down and ornamentation has been added in.

Samples

*'' Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir'' Leonhard Schiemer: ''Dein heilig statt'' ''Dein heilig statt hond sie zerstört, / dein Altar umbgegraben, / darzu auch deine Knecht ermördt, / wo sie's ergriffen haben. / Nur wir allein / dein heuflein klein, / sind wenig uberbliben, / mit schmach und schand / durch alle land / verjaget und vertriben.'' ''Wir sind zerstrewt gleich wie die schaf, / die keinen Hirten haben, / verlassen unser hauß und hooff / und sind gleich dem Nachtraben, / der sich auch offt / hewlt in steinklufft. / In Felsen und in klufften / ist unser gmach, / man stellt uns nach, / wie Vöglein in der lufften.'' ''Wir schleichen in den Wälden umb, / man sucht uns mit den Hunden, / man führt uns als die Lemlein stum / gefangen und gebunden. / Man zeigt uns an vor jedermann, / als weren wir Auffrürer, / wir sind geacht / wie Schaf zur schlacht / als Ketzer und verführer.'' ''Vil sind auch in den Banden eng / an ihrem leib verdorben, / ettliche durch die marter streng / umbkommen und gestorben / on alle schuld; / hie ist gedult / der Heiligen auff erden. / (..........?)'' ''Man hat sie an die bäum gehenkt, / erwürget und zerhawen, / heimlich und öffentlich ertrenckt / vil Weiber und jungfrawen. / Die haben frey / ohn alle schew / der warheit zeugnuß geben, / dasz Jesus Christ / die wahrheit ist, / der weg und auch das leben.'' ''Noch tobt die Welt und ruhet nicht, / ist gar unsinnig worden, / vil lügen sie auff uns erdicht, / mit brennen und mit morden / thut sie uns bang. / O Herr, wie lang / willtu dazzu doch schweigen? / Richt den hochmut, / der heiligen bluth / laß wer dein Thron auffsteigen!''

References

External links

*
Ausbund
', Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online

from Mennolink
Scan of the 1815 Lancaster edition

Scan of the 1583 edition

Scan of the 1834 edition
linked to the index (register) pages {{Anabaptist Amish Anabaptism German music history Protestant hymnals 1564 books