- Simon Dach
Simon Dach (
29 July 1605 –15 April 1659 ) was aPrussia n German lyricalpoet and writer ofhymn s, born in Memel in theDuchy of Prussia (nowKlaipėda inLithuania ).Early life
Although brought up in humble circumstances, (his father was a poorly-paid court interpreter in Lithuania), he received a classical education in the Domschule of
Königsberg (Królewiec) (nowKaliningrad ,Russia ), and in the Latin schools ofWittenberg , andMagdeburg , and entered theUniversity of Königsberg in 1626 where he was a student oftheology andphilosophy . In 1626, he left Magdeburg to escape both the plague and the30 Years War , and returned to his Prussian homeland, settling in Königsberg, where he remained for the rest of his life.Mid life
After earning his degree, Dach was a private tutor for a time, then was appointed "Kollaboralor" (
teacher ) in 1633 and co-rector of the "Domschule" (cathedral school) in Königsberg in 1636. In 1639 he was appointed by [Adrian Brauer] to the Chair ofPoetry at the Albertina University in Königsberg. This was a post he held until his death. Also, in 1640 he received a doctorate from the University.Part of his official duties as Chair of Poetry was to create poems for various University celebrations, programs, debates and funeral services of his colleagues - all of these written either Latin or Greek. In 1644, he wrote the Play "Sorbuisa" which celebrated the centennial of the University of Königsberg.
Dach became one of the prominent heads of the musical Kürbishütte, a group that included, among others, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/winkworth/hyndwink.weiszel.html George Weissel] , [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/t/h/thilo_v.htm Valentin Thilo] and
Johann Franck . The summer-house of organist and composer Heinrich Albert became the meeting place of this group of poets, hymnists and musicians, who met in to create new hymns as well as to give readings of their own poetry. This group published eight books of poems and songs from 1638 to 1650, the books meeting with great success. Of the approximately 200 poems and songs contained within the books, Dach had the lion's share, with 125 being his compositions. The songs and hymns contained in these books, especially those of Dach, were sung throughout Germany and frequetly appeared in pirated editions.Later life and Poetic Success
In Königsberg he became friends with and collaborated with [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Albert_%28Komponist%29 Heinrich Albert] (1604 - 1651), [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/winkworth/singers.roberthn.html Robert Roberthin] (1600 - 1648) and [http://www.uni-greifswald.de/~dt_phil/litwiss/Gratz/schwarz.html Sibylla Schwarz] (1621 - 1638), and with them formed the [http://pedia.nodeworks.com/S/SI/SIM/Simon_Dach Königsberger Dichtergruppe] (loosely translated as the "Königsberg Poets' Association"). In 1639 he was appointed professor of poetry at Königsberg through the influence of his friend Roberthin. He sang the praises of the house of the Electors of Brandenburg in a collection of poems entitled "Kurbrandenburgische Rose, Adler, Lowe und Scepter" (1661), and also produced many occasional poems, several of which became popular; the most famous of them is [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/herder/gedichte/annchen1.htm "Anke von Tharaw Oss, de my gefollt"] (rendered from
Low Saxon by Herder into modern German as "Ännchen von Tharau"), composed in 1637 in honor of the marriage of a friend.Among Dach's best-known hymns, many of which are still sung, are the following: [http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/Lieder/ichbinja.html "Ich bin ja, Herr, in deiner Macht"] , [http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/Lieder/ichbinbg.html "Ich bin bei Gott in Gnaden durch Christi Blut und Tod"] , and [http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/495.html "O, wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen."] In all, he wrote over 150 hymns, and a number of poems, and was considered the leading figure of the hymnists and poets of Königsberg.
Published works
* "Handbuch des Kantorendienstes: Einf. u. Handreichung zu einem wiederentdeckten Dienst in d. Gemeinde" ISBN 3-87088-144-5
Poems of Note
:Sonnet:"Ueber den Eingang der Schloßbrücke"
:Lied der Freundschaft
References
* [http://www.blc.edu/comm/gargy/gargy1/ELH.biographies.ABCD.html "Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary Handbook, Biographies and Sources"]
Books on Simon Dach
* Alexander J. Birt: "Simon Dach". Gräfe & Unzer, Königsberg i.P. 1905
* Bruno Nick: "Das Naturgefühl bei Simon Dach". - Greifswald, Univ. Diss., 1911
* August Gebauer (Hrsg.): "Simon Dach und seine Freunde als Kirchenlieddichter". Osiander, Tübingen 1828
* Heinrich Stiehler: "Simon Dach". Hartung, Königsberg i.P., 1896External links
* [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/d/dach_s.shtml Eintrag (inkl. Literaturangaben) im Biographisch-Bibliographischen Kirchenlexikon]
* [http://opc.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de:8080/DB=1/SET=10/TTL=1/CMD?ACT=SRCHA&IKT=1016&SRT=YOP&TRM=Dach%2C+Simon Bücher von und über Simon Dach bei der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin]
* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9028482/Simon-Dach Encyclopaedia Britannica Simon Dach]
* [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/autoren/dach.htm Werke von Simon Dach als Online-Texte im Projekt Gutenberg-DE (mit Einführung)]
* [http://www.ni.schule.de/~pohl/literatur/sadl/barock/dach.htm Kurzbiographie und Texte]----"This article uses material from the
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica "
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