Lothar Zenetti (6 February 1926 – 24 February 2019) was a German

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

theologian, priest, and author of books and poetry. In Frankfurt, he was both a minister for young people and a parish priest. He was also active on radio and television. His songs, for example the popular " Das Weizenkorn muss sterben" and " Segne dieses Kind", appear in both Protestant and Catholic hymnals.

Life and work

Zenetti was born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. From 1931 he attended the Bonifatius-Schule, and the Goethe-Gymnasium beginning in 1936. He began national service in 1943, first with the

Luftwaffenhelfer A ''Luftwaffenhelfer'', also commonly known as a ''Flakhelfer'', was any member of the auxiliary staff of the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Such terms often implied students conscripted as child soldiers. Establishment ''Luftwaff ...

, then with the

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...

. At the end of the War, he was a prisoner of war, first of the Americans, then the French. During this time he began to study theology at the so-called ' (barbed-wire

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

) of

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

. Back in Frankfurt, Zenetti completed his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

and studied at the

Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology (German: ''Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen'') is a higher education Jesuit college in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The school offers a 10-semester Magister in Catholic Th ...

. He graduated in 1952 and was ordained a priest on 28 September 1952 by Wilhelm Kempf in

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The to ...

. He worked as a ''Kaplan'' (vicar) in Oberbrechen, Kölbingen,

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus () is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location for both scenery and transport on the edg ...

and at St. Bonifatius in Wiesbaden. In 1962 he became ''Stadtjugendpfarrer'' (minister for young people) in Frankfurt. He was a parish priest in

St. Wendel Sankt Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. According to a survey by the German Association for Hou ...

in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen from 1962 to 1995. Zenetti published several books and many poems. His song " Das Weizenkorn muss sterben" (The wheat kernel must die), part of Catholic and Protestant hymnals, is popular. About 150 of his poems were set to music in the genre

Neues Geistliches Lied ''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 youn ...

(NGL), several were included in hymnals, others appeared in song collections and were recorded, like the ballad "" by the singer-songwriter (''Liedermacher'')

Konstantin Wecker Konstantin Alexander Wecker (born 1 June 1947, Munich) is a German singer-songwriter; he also works as a composer, author, and actor. Life and work Classically educated at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Wecker got one of his first jobs as a songwriter a ...

. He translated hymns by the Dutch priest and lyricist

Huub Oosterhuis Hubertus Gerardus Josephus Henricus "Huub" Oosterhuis (; 1 November 19339 April 2023) was a Dutch theologian and poet. He is mainly known for his contribution to Christian music and liturgy in Dutch and also in German, used in both Protestant ...

into German, such as " Ik sta voor U in leegte en gemis" to "Ich steh vor dir mit leeren Händen, Herr" which is part of both ''

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-speaki ...

'' and '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch''. He also wrote texts and songs in the ''Mundart'' (

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

). Zenetti worked on the public television series ', and was the representative of the Catholic Church for the broadcaster

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting, public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ...

. In 1984 Zenetti was awarded the prize ''Humor in der Kirche'' (Humour in the church) by the

Diocese of Limburg The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne. Its territory encompasses ...

. He died in Frankfurt on 24 February 2019 at the age of 93.

Works

Forty-eight publications by Zenetti are listed by the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

(DNB).

Books

* ''Nägel mit Köpfen. Handreichungen für das Glaubensgespräch'', 1960 * ''Gottes frohe Kinderschar. Werkbuch für kirchliche Kinderarbeit'', 1961 * ''Kinderwelt und Gotteswort. Hundert Kinderansprachen'', 1962 * ''Morgens, mittwochs und abends.. Werkbuch für Mädchengruppe und -freizeit'', 1963 * ''Peitsche und Psalm.Spirituals und Gospelsongs. Geschichte und Glaube der Neger Nordamerikas'', 1963 * ''Initiativen. Junge Christen in einer großen Stadt. Reportagen'', 1964 * ''Heiße (W)Eisen in der Kirche. Jazz, Beat, Songs, Schlager in der Kirche?'', 1966 * ''Zeitansage. Werkbuch zum Gottesdienst einer neuen Generation'', 1969 * ''Texte der Zuversicht. Für den einzelnen und die Gemeinde'', 1972 * ''Sieben Farben hat das Licht'', 1975 * ''Gästebuch des lieben Gottes. Gemeinde zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit'', 1975 * ''Das allerschönste Fest. Ein Frankfurter Weihnachtsbuch'', 1977 * ''Die wunderbare Zeitvermehrung. Variationen zum Evangelium'', 1979 * ''’s Frankforder Christkindche. Zwei Krippenspiele in Frankfurter Mundart'', 1981 * ''Manchmal leben wir schon. Wege, die der Glaube geht. Rundfunk-Ansprachen'', 1981, 2002 * ''Die Stunde der Seiltänzer. Geschichten und Gedichte'', 1982 * ''Wunder geschehen nicht nur sonntags. Erfahrungen mit dem Alltag, Rundfunkansprachen'', 1984 * ''Meine Zeit in guten Händen. Mit alten Bildern, Bräuchen und Gebeten durch das Jahr'', 1985 * ''Das Jesuskind. Verehrung, Darstellung, Kunst und Frömmigkeit '', 1987 * ''Wir sind noch zu retten. Neue Texte der Zuversicht'', 1989 * ''Auf Seiner Spur. Texte gläubiger Zuversicht'', Topos Taschenbücher Bd. 327, 2000 * ''In Seiner Nähe'', 2002

Songs

Some of Zenetti's songs have been included in hymnals, such as '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' (EG) and the Catholic ''

''. * "

Das eine Brot wächst auf vielen Halmen "Das eine Brot wächst auf vielen Halmen" (The one bread grows on many stalks) is a Christian offertory hymn with words by Lothar Zenetti set to an Israeli melody. It can be sung as a Round (music), round. Of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL) ...

" (GL 728, Limburg) * "Das Kreuz des Jesus Christus", music by

Peter Janssens Peter Janssens (17 June 1934 – 24 December 1998) was a German musician and composer who wrote and performed incidental music for several theatres, and songs and musicals of the genre Neues Geistliches Lied, a pioneer of . He worked at a German t ...

and * "Das Lied von der Veränderung der Welt", music by Christoph Enzinger * "

Der am Kreuz ist meine Liebe "" (He on the Cross is my love) is the beginning of Passion hymns in German. One version was written by as a translation of the Latin "Amor meus crucifixus est" (My love was crucified), attributed to Ignatius of Loyola, to the melody of "". A fam ...

", after Klopstock (GL 774, Limburg) * " Das Weizenkorn muss sterben", 1971, music by Johann Lauermann (EG 585, GL 620, formerly 218) * " Einer ist unser Leben", 1973, tune by Jeas Liesse (GL 798, Limburg) * " Segne dieses Kind und hilf uns, ihm zu helfen", 1971 *: music by

Erna Woll Erna Woll (23 March 1917 – 7 April 2005) was a German composer, church musician and author. Life Erna Woll was born in St. Ingbert in the Saar. She studied music from 1936 to 1938 at the Evangelisches Kirchenmusikalisches Institut Heidelber ...

, 1971 (former GL 636) *: music by Michael Schütz, 1983 (EG 581, GL 490) * " Herr, segne uns", 1971, tune by Karl Fink (GL 848, former GL 919, Limburg) * "Seht, das Brot, das wir teilen", 1972, tune:

Rolf Schweizer Rolf Schweizer (14 March 1936 – 6 June 2016) was a German composer, choirmaster and church music director, who was based primarily at Pforzheim. Schweizer was part of the movement Neues Geistliches Lied, and his compositions, several of which app ...

1983, (EG 226) * " Seht, der Stein ist weggerückt" *: music by Karl Fink, 1975 (former GL 836 in Limburg) *: music by Josef Oestemer, 2011 (GL 783 in Limburg) * "

Seht, er lebt "Seht, er lebt" (Look, he lives) is a Christian poem written by the Catholic priest Lothar Zenetti in 1973. With an Israeli melody, it became an Easter hymn in the Neues Geistliches Lied (NGL) genre, first published in 1975. In the 2013 Catholic ...

", 1973, tune: from Israel, (GL 781 Limburg) * "Stille lass mich finden", music by

Peter Reulein Peter Reulein (born 1966) is a German composer, organ improviser, academic teacher and church musician, from 2000 at the church Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 2016 he composed for the Catholic Diocese of Limburg the Franciscan oratorio ''La ...

1999 * " Was keiner wagt", music by

* "Weder Tod noch Leben", 1972, music by

Bertold Hummel Bertold Hummel (27 November 1925 – 9 August 2002) was a German composer of modern classical music. Life Bertold Hummel was born in Hüfingen, Baden. He studied at the Academy of Music in Freiburg from 1947 to 1954, taking composition with Har ...

1976 * "Wie ein Traum wird es sein", music by * "Wir alle essen von einem Brot", 1969, music by Ingrid Hirschfeldt 1969 (former GL 539) * "Wir sind mitten im Leben", 1970, music by Herbert Beuerle (former GL 655) * "Wir sprechen verschiedene Sprachen", music by

Winfried Heurich Winfried Heurich (born 13 February 1940) is a German organist and composer. Life Born in Neuhof, Hesse, Heurich was from 1962 to 2000 the church musician of Liebfrauen in Frankfurt am Main. In 1973 he composed songs titled ''Ganz nah ist dei ...

* "Worauf sollen wir hören", 1971, music by Peter Kempin (former GL 623) * translation of " Ik sta voor U in leegte en gemis" by

: "Ich steh vor dir mit leeren Händen, Herr", 1974, (EG 382, GL 422/621)

References

External links

Lyrische Texte von Lothar Zenetti, zusammengestellt von Christoph Fleischer, Werl 2010
''Der schwache Glaube'', 2010
Ein Priesterdichter wird 90

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenetti, Lothar 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Christian hymnwriters 20th-century German writers 1926 births 2019 deaths Clergy from Frankfurt Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology alumni Luftwaffenhelfer German prisoners of war in World War II held by France German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Reich Labour Service members