Christoph Christian Sturm (1740–1786) was a German preacher and author, best known for his ''Reflections on the Works of God in Nature''. The son of Johann Jakob Sturm, a lawyer, at

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, was born at Augsburg, January 25, 1740. He studied at the universities of

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and Halle. He was then appointed, in 1762, as one of the masters in the Paedagogium at Halle, and in 1765 became Conrector of the school at Sorau, at that time still part of

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

. In 1767 he returned to Halle as fourth pastor of the Market Church, and became third pastor in the same year. He left Halle in 1769, to become second pastor of the church of the Holy Spirit (''Heilige-Geist-Kirche'') at

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

, where he passed the happiest part of his professional life, and where he wrote most of his devotional works. Finally, in 1778, he was appointed chief pastor of St. Peter's Church at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Here he at first lived happily, beloved and respected as a preacher and author, until, in 1782, his views on the Salvation of the led J. M. Goetze, chief pastor of St. Katherine's Church in Hamburg, to accuse him of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

. The resulting controversy embittered and shortened Sturm's life. In his latter years he suffered from a weak chest; and in the night of August 10, 1786, he was seized with an attack of spitting of blood, from which he never recovered. He died at Hamburg, on August 26, 1786.John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology

Legacy

Sturm's works have been translated into numerous different languages and are still in use today, his works on the Reflections on the Works of God in Nature even highly influenced

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

, amongst whose possessions was found a highly annotated copy of Sturm's work.

Notes

1740 births 1786 deaths German male writers {{Germany-writer-stub