Paul Gerhardt was an eleven-year-old boy when war engulfed his homeland of Germany. What began as a political dispute over succession to the throne of Bohemia turned into a primarily religious conflict, as Catholic and Protestant troops battled across central Europe. War reached into France, Holland and Denmark, but Germany suffered the worst devastation of all. By the end of the Thirty Years’ War, the population was decimated, the countryside was destroyed, and the people were demoralized.
Even in these difficult times, Gerhardt had a desire to serve the Lord. He enrolled at the University of Wittenberg, near his hometown, at the age of twenty-one. Here, one of his teachers, Paul Röber, frequently took his sermon texts from hymns. Gerhardt saw first-hand the pastoral value of hymnody. However, when Gerhardt graduated, he could find no position in a church. Instead, he took a job in Berlin tutoring children. During these years of waiting, he met hymn tune composer…
