I. Life – II. Work – III. Influence
(Mar 12, 1607, Gräfenhainichen – May 27, 1676, Lübben, Spreewald)
I. Life
Gerhardt, the most important Protestant hymnist after Luther, was raised in Lutheran Electoral Saxony. His parents died early (1619 and 1621). From 1622 to 1627, he attended the Prince's school Collegium Moldanum in Grimma. He enrolled at Wittenberg in 1682 to study theology in an environment of vigorous orthodoxy (II, 2.a); he was also …