Johannes Daniel Falk (28 October 1768 Danzig – 14 February 1826

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

) was a German publisher and poet. Falk was born in Danzig (Gdańsk) in the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

province of

Royal Prussia Royal Prussia (; or , ) or Polish PrussiaAnton Friedrich Büsching, Patrick Murdoch. ''A New System of Geography'', London 1762p. 588/ref> (Polish: ; German: ) became a province of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed follow ...

, where he received his first education against the wishes of his father, who wanted to employ the child in his business as wig maker. The Danzig city council granted Falk a theology stipendium at Halle, but he did not become a preacher and frequented literary circles of

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

instead. In late 1815 or early 1816, he wrote the German text ''

O du fröhliche "" ("Oh, how joyful", literally: "Oh, you joyful ... hristmastime) is a German Christmas carol. The author of the original text was the prominent Weimar "orphan father" Johannes Daniel Falk (1768–1826), who set his lyric to the anonymous hymn-t ...

'' that became a popular

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

, to the melody of the Catholic hymn ''

O Sanctissima "" (O most holy) is a Roman Catholic hymn in Latin, seeking the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and often sung in various languages on her feast days. The earliest known publication was from London in 1792, presenting it as a traditional song ...

''. Falk was the founder of the ''Falk'sche Institute'', a public education place for orphans in

. He died in that city in 1826.

References

External links

* *
Johann Daniel Falk works, MSS 1992
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

1768 births 1826 deaths Christian poets German poets German male poets German Protestant hymnwriters German social workers Writers from Gdańsk 19th-century German philanthropists 19th-century German publishers (people) {{Germany-poet-stub