Martin Rinkart, or Rinckart (23 April 1586,

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; hsb, Jiłow) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge o ...

– 8 December 1649) was a German Lutheran clergyman and

hymnist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

. He is best known for the text to "Nun danket alle Gott" ("

Now thank we all our God "Now thank we all our God" is a popular Christian hymn. Catherine Winkworth translated it from the German "", written by the Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart. Its hymn tune, Zahn No. 5142, was published by Johann Crüger in the 1647 edition o ...

") which was written c. 1636. It was set to music by

Johann Crüger Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) was a German composer of well-known hymns. He was also the editor of the most widely used Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica''. Early life and education Crüger was b ...

about 1647, and translated into English in the 19th century by

Catherine Winkworth Catherine Winkworth (13 September 1827 – 1 July 1878) was an English hymnwriter and educator. She translated the German chorale tradition of church hymns for English speakers, for which she is recognized in the calendar of the Evangelical Lut ...

. Rinkart was a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, E ...

and archdeacon at

, where he was born and also died. He served there during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

and a severe plague in 1637.

Hymns

* ''Nun danket alle Gott'' (Now thank we all our God)

External links

Martin Rinkart
hymnary.org

Bach Cantatas Website * * 1586 births 1649 deaths Renaissance composers People from Eilenburg German Lutherans German Lutheran hymnwriters German male composers 17th-century German composers 17th-century German people 17th-century hymnwriters 17th-century German musicians 17th-century male musicians {{Germany-composer-stub