Simon Dach | |
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| Born | (1605-07-29)29 July 1605 |
| Died | 15 April 1659(1659-04-15) (aged 53) |
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| Language | Low German (Low Prussian dialect) |
| Nationality | German |
| Citizenship | Prussian |
| Genre | Baroque |
Simon Dach (29 July 1605 – 15 April 1659) was a Germanlyrical poet andhymnwriter, born inMemel,Duchy of Prussia (now Klaipėda inLithuania).
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Although brought up in humble circumstances (his father was a poorly paid court interpreter forLithuanian inMemel), he received aclassical education in the Domschule ofKönigsberg (nowKaliningrad, Russia) and in the Latin schools ofWittenberg andMagdeburg, and entered theUniversity of Königsberg in 1626 where he was a student oftheology andphilosophy.[1] In 1626, he left Magdeburg to escape both the plague and theThirty Years' War, and returned to his Prussian homeland, settling in Königsberg, where he remained for the rest of his life.
After earning his degree, Dach was a private tutor for a time, then was appointedKollaborator (teacher) in 1633 and co-rector of theDomschule (cathedral school) in Königsberg in 1636. In 1639 he was appointed byAdrian Brauer to the Chair of Poetry at the Albertina University in Königsberg.[1] 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 playSorbuisa, 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,George Weissel,[2]Valentin Thilo,[3] andJohann Franck. The summer-house of organist and composerHeinrich 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 frequently appeared in pirated editions.
In Königsberg he became friends with and collaborated withHeinrich Albert (1604–1651) andRobert Roberthin[4] (1600–1648) and with them formed theKönigsberger Dichtergruppe[5] (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 theElectors of Brandenburg in a collection of poems entitledKurbrandenburgische Rose, Adler, Lowe und Scepter (1661), and also produced manyoccasional poems, several of which became popular; the most famous of them is "Anke von Tharaw öss, de my geföllt"Anke van Tharaw (rendered fromLow Saxon byHerder intoStandard German as "Ännchen von Tharau"), composed in 1637 in honor of the marriage of a friend.[1]
Among Dach's best-known hymns, many of which are still sung, are the following: "Ich bin ja, Herr, in deiner Macht", "Ich bin bei Gott in Gnaden durch Christi Blut und Tod", and "O, wie selig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen."[1] 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.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dach, Simon".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
