Friedrich Hermann Eickhoff, erroneously also ''Friedrich Heinrich Eickhoff'' (1807 - 1886) was a German teacher,

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational h ...

and song editor. Until today he is known through the Lieder ''

Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud "Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud" ("Go forth, my heart, and seek delight") is a summer hymn with a text in German by theologian Paul Gerhardt written in 1653. It was first published that same year in the fifth edition of Johann Crüger's hymna ...

'' and '' Ihr Kinderlein, kommet'',Matthias Borner: ''Ein Gütersloher Lied geht um die Welt. Wie der Weihnachtsklassiker „Ihr Kinderlein kommet“ berühmt wurde.'' I
''GT-Info. Güterslohs Stadtmagazin''
December 2010/January 2011, (PDF; 15,4 MB) which he created by combining sacred texts (by

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

and Christoph von Schmid) with spring melodies by

August Harder August Harder (17 July 1775 – 22 October 1813) was a German musician, composer and writer. He is known for the melody to Paul Gerhardt's sacred summer song "Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud". Born Augustin Harder in Schönerstädt near Leisni ...

and

Johann Abraham Peter Schulz Johann Abraham Peter Schulz (31 March 1747, Lüneburg – 10 June 1800, Schwedt) was a German musician. He is best known as the composer of the melody for Matthias Claudius's poems "Der Mond ist aufgegangen" and " Wir pflügen und wir streuen", ...

Life

Born in Soest, Eickhoff received his training at the in Soest. In 1829 he came to

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

as a teacher. There he taught at the

protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

girls' elementary school in the ''Kirchstraße''; later he became their

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. In this capacity, he was in charge of the school's move to the new school building in the "Kökerstraße" in 1859 and the merging of the three Protestant elementary schools into the "Bürgerschule" in 1868. Beside his pedagogical activity Eickhoff was organist of the evangelic congregation at the Apostelkirche, where two years before him had come as a pastor (until 1838). Through Volkening, Gütersloh became a center of the

Minden-Ravensberg Minden-Ravensberg was a Prussian administrative unit consisting of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg from 1719–1807. The capital was Minden. In 1807 the region became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a client state ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

revivalist movement of the 19th century: Baptists, Methodists, sanctification movement, neo-pietism revivalism. Eickhoff's concern for folk Christian songs had grown out of his teaching profession as well as his organist service. By singing atmospheric texts to catchy melodies, images and message of

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefit ...

were to be impressed upon children and families. In 1835

Carl Bertelsmann Carl Bertelsmann (11 October 1791 – 17 December 1850) was a German businessman, publisher, and founder of German company Bertelsmann. Life C. Bertelsmann Verlag was founded as a publishing house and print shop in July 1835 by Carl Bertelsma ...

founded his publishing house at the church square in Gütersloh. One of the first sales successes was the Christian song collection ''Theomele'' r.-lat. "Gotteslieder" published by Eickhoff with the songs he collected or created by combination. Around this time Eickhoff married Bertelsmann's daughter Anna Friederike. The couple had four children, three of whom became teachers like Eickhoff. Eickhoff's songs experienced their real breakthrough through Johann Heinrich Volkening's songbook ''Kleine Missionsharfe''. It was published by Bertelsmann in 1852 and had 82 editions with more than two million copies. In 1873, Eickhoff co-founded the Historical Society in Gütersloh, the forerunner of today's Gütersloh Heimatverein. On the 50th anniversary of Eickhoff's death in 1936, Eickhoffstrasse in Gütersloh was given its name, although it was not named after Friedrich Hermann Eickhoff, but after his sons Prof. (1853-1934) and Prof. Paul Eickhoff (1850-1931). Both published numerous works on local history.

References

External links

Eickhoffs Wirken als Lehrer
auf www.stadtgeschichte-guetersloh.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eickhoff, Friedrich 1807 births 1886 deaths People from Soest, Germany German classical organists 19th-century classical musicians 19th-century organists