Eugen Eckert (born 1954) is a German social worker, minister, singer-songwriter and academic teacher. He is known for his lyrics for new spiritual songs (

Neues Geistliches Lied (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers. History The idea to reach young people by new songs for ...

), and his oratorios and musical plays.

Career

Born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Eckert first worked as a social worker. He studied from 1977 Protestant theology, pedagogic psychology and

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

at the

Frankfurt University Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

and the

Mainz University The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. In 1990 he became the minister of the Protestant parish of

Offenbach-Lauterborn Lauterborn is a quarter (''Stadtteil'') of Offenbach am Main, Germany, with approximately 9,500 inhabitants (2020). It is located in the south-east part of the town and borders Frankfurt and the municipal forest. History Lauterborn was the histor ...

. He has been a minister for students (''Studentenpfarrer'') of the Frankfurt University since 1996, and is the minister of the stadium

Commerzbank-Arena The Waldstadion (, ''Forest Stadium''), currently known as Deutsche Bank Park for sponsorship purposes, is a retractable roof sports stadium in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. The home stadium of the football club Eintracht Frankfurt, it was opened ...

. He has also worked for broadcasters and wrote books. From 1993 to 2013 he lectured at the

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (, HfMDK) is a state Hochschule for music, theatre and dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its kind in the Federal State of Hesse. It was founded in 1938. At present around 900 student ...

. Eckert wrote from 1976 lyrics of

, producing more than thousand songs, ten

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

s, several

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

e and

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...

s. He was in 1975 founding member of the band

Habakuk Habakkuk or Habacuc is the main figure described in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is traditionally regarded as a prophet active around 612 BCE. Almost all information about Habakkuk is dra ...

, for which he has worked as songwriter, singer and manager. Eckert was active in the Arbeitskreis Kirchenmusik und Jugendseelsorge im Bistum Limburg from 1980. When

Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (born 20 November 1959) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church and theologian. He was a vicar and an auxiliary bishop in Münster before becoming the Bishop of Limburg in January 2008. Pope Francis removed hi ...

, then the bishop, dismissed its president Patrick Dehm as director of the "Haus der Begegnung", Eckert resigned to express his protest. Eckert is a founding member and vice president of the ecumenical association inTAKT, founded on 8 April 2013 to promote Neues Geistliches Lied.

Selected works

Eckert wrote the lyrics for more than 1000 songs of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, oratorios and musical plays. Several songs have been included in the Protestant hymnal ''

Evangelisches Gesangbuch ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (''EG''; , "Protestantism, Protestant song book") is the current hymnal of German-language congregations in Germany, Alsace and Lorraine, Austria, and Luxembourg, which was introduced from 1993 and 1996, succeeding ...

'' and the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speak ...

''.

Oratorios

* ''Hiob'', 1994, music: * ''Daniel'', 1996, music: Thomas Gabriel * ''Emmaus'', 2002, music: Gabriel * ''Simeon'', 2007, music: Gabriel * ''Eleasar'', 2008, music: * ''Junia'', 2010, music: Gabriel * ''Und dann war Licht'', 2013, Merseburger Orgeltage, music: Gabriel * ''Maria'', 2014, music: Gabriel, premiered 29 March 2014, Evangelische Friedenskirche,

Ratingen Ratingen (; ) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf. Administration With a communal reform of 1975 the independent municipalit ...

* ''Feuerzungen'', 2014, music: Peter Reulein, premiered 7 June 2014, Liebfrauen, Frankfurt * ''So lang hier stehet Stein auf Stein'', 2016, in memory of 350 years plague in Flörsheim * '' Bruder Martin'', 2017, Luther oratorio, music: Gabriel, premiered on 17 September 2017, open air in

Tecklenburg Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor ...

* '' Eins'', 2021, Ecumenical oratorio for Ökumenischer Kirchentag 2021, text with Helmut Schlegel

Songs

* "Besser als ich noch", 1999, music: Horst Christill * " Bewahre uns, Gott", music: * " Da wohnt ein Sehnen tief in uns", translation of " There is a longing" by Anne Quigley * "

Eingeladen zum Fest des Glaubens "" (Invited to the feast of faith) is a Christian hymn with text by Eugen Eckert, written in 1989, and a melody by Alejandro Veciana. It is also known by the first line "" (From the villages). A hymn of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, it is par ...

", music: Alejandro Veciana * "Einst warst du, Gott, uns gnädig", music: Gerd-Peter Münden * " Fürwahr, er trug unsre Krankheit", music: from Chile * "Gott, deine Liebe reicht weit", music: Winfried Heurich * " Gott, der du warst und bist und bleibst", music: Herbert Heine (1993) * " Gott hat mir längst einen Engel gesandt", music: Thomas Gabriel * "Heilig, der da war", music: Heine * "Ich lasse dich nicht", music: Reulein, song competition of the in Berlin 2003 * " Jesus Christus, Sohn des Lebens", music: Peter Reulein * "Jesus, Gottes Lamm", music: Reulein * " Lamm Gottes, für uns gegeben", music: Christill * " Meine engen Grenzen", music: Heurich and Gerhard Fleischer * " Mit dir, Maria, singen wir" (1994, translation), music: Jean-Claude Gianadda * "Noch ehe die Sonne am Himmel stand" (1991, after

Psalm 90 Psalm 90 is the 90th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vul ...

), music: Sergej A. Bazuk * " Ob ich sitze oder stehe ("Von allen Seiten umgibst du mich"), music: Torsten Hampel * "Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen", music: Ludger Stühlmeyer * "Stille, finde mich", music: Christill * " Wäre Gesanges voll unser Mund", music: Veciana * " Was mein Herz schwer macht", music: Jürgen Kandziora * " Weite Räume meine Füßen", music: Veciana * "Wir haben seinen Stern gesehen", music: Reulein * "Wo die Liebe wohnt", music: Veciana

References

External links

*
Habakuk

Wo Blumen den Asphalt aufbrechen
gesangbuch-lieder.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckert, Eugen German social workers German male singer-songwriters German singer-songwriters Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni 1954 births Living people Clergy from Frankfurt Academic staff of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts