Ludwig Helmbold, also spelled Ludwig Heimbold, (21 January 1532 – 8 April 1598) was a poet of

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s. He is probably best known for his hymn " Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren", of which J. S. Bach used the fifth stanza for his cantata ''O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad'', BWV 165; Bach also used his words in BWV 73, 79 and 186a.

Biography

Helmbold was born in

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a town in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's Central Germany (geography)#Geographical centre, geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen ...

. He became a professor of

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

an der Erfurt University in 1554. In 1571 he was appointed a minister at the Marienkirche in Mühlhausen, later as Superintendent. Helmbold was crowned ''poeta laureatus'' by

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II (31 July 1527 – 12 October 1576) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1564 until his death in 1576. A member of the Austrian House of Habsburg, he was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague on 14 May 1562 and elected King of Germany (Kin ...

, in 1566 on the Reichstag at Augsburg.

Hymns

The Mühlhausen cantors Joachim a Burck and

Johannes Eccard Johannes Eccard (1553–1611) was a German composer and kapellmeister. He was an early principal conductor at the Berlin court chapel. Biography Eccard was born at Mühlhausen, in present-day Thuringia, Germany. At the age of eighteen he went t ...

set many of Helmbold's more than hundred hymns to music. Some of his works were used by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

in his

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning ...

, such as * ''Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir'', BWV 73 * ''Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild'', BWV 79 * ''Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht'', BWV 186a * ''O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad'', BWV 165. A few of his hymns are still included in the German 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 ...

'' (EG): * EG 320: "Nun lasst uns Gott, dem Herren" * EG 365: "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen" (Also in '' Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary'', #465) * EG (Nordelbien) 558: "Amen, Gott Vater und Sohne"

Other recognition

In 1998, a street named Helmboldstraße, next to Bonatstraße, was named after him in Mühlhausen.

References

Literature

* * *

External links

*
Entries for Ludwig Helmbold
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Helmbold, Ludwig 16th-century German poets 16th-century German male writers 1532 births 1598 deaths Academic staff of the University of Erfurt German male poets Clergy from Thuringia