Hymn Writers of the Church

Rinkart, Martin, a German minister, musician, and poet, was born at Eilenburg, Saxony, April 23, 1586. He was educated at the Latin school of Eilenburg and at the University of Leipzig, which he entered in 1602. He was the beloved pastor of a Church in his native town for many years, and died there December 8, 1649. "The greater part of Rinkart's professional life was passed amid the horrors of the Thirty Years' War. Eilenburg, being a small walled town, became a refuge for fugitives from all around, and, being so overcrowded, not unnaturally suffered from pestilence and famine." His duties as a clergyman at that time were very arduous. His memory is cherished in his native land, and his most famous hymn, "Nun Danket," is widely used.