Karl Johann Philipp Spitta (1 August 1801 – 28 September 1859) was a German Protestant religious poet.

Biography

Born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, he was educated at

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, and from 1824 to 1828 he was a tutor near

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

, and there wrote the most favored of his hymns. Afterwards he was vicar or pastor in several churches, and in 1859, shortly before his death, was made superintendent at Burgdorf.

Hymns

His hymns, contained in ''Psalter und Harfe'' (1833; revised with biographical note by his son, Ludwig, 1890; 'Jubilee' ed., 1901), and in the ''Nachgelassene geistliche Lieder'' (1861 with frequent reprintings), rank high in the German spiritual song of the 19th century, and attained great popularity, attributed by some to their freshness of thought, purity of style, and depth of sentiment. See also ''Lyra domestica'' (1st series, London, 1860; 2nd series, 1864). His """ (Enjoy the beautiful earth) and the Pentecost hymn "" are part of the modern Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' hymnal.

Family

Among his ancestors was Jewish diarist

Glückel of Hameln Glückel of Hameln (; also spelled Glückel, Glüeckel, or Glikl of Hamelin; also known as Glikl bas Judah Leib) ( – September 19, 1724) was a German Jewish businesswoman and diarist. Written in her native tongue of Western Yiddish over the cou ...

. Spitta's son

Friedrich Spitta Friedrich Spitta (11 January 1852 – 7 June 1924) was a German Protestant theologian. Biography Spitta was born at Wittingen, Lower Saxony, the son of German hymn writer Karl Johann Philipp Spitta and brother of Philipp (music historian a ...

was a noted theologian. Another son, also named

Philipp Spitta Julius August Philipp Spitta (27 December 1841 – 13 April 1894) was a German music historian and musicologist best known for his 1873 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life He was born in , near Hoya, and his father, also called Phil ...

, was a musicologist, best known for his biography of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Notes

References

* * This work notes biographies by Münkel (Leipzig, 1861) and Majer (2d ed., Bremen, 1891). *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitta, Philipp 1801 births 1859 deaths 19th-century German poets University of Göttingen alumni Writers from Hanover German male poets 19th-century German male writers