Johannes Freder (Hymn-Writer)

Born: August 29, 1510 - Köslin, Western Pomerania (today Koszalin, north-western Poland)
Died: January 25, 1562 - Wismar, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Johannes [John] Freder (the Elder) [Fret(h)here, Fretter, Irenaeus] was a German Lutheran theologian and hymn-writer. Born the son of a councilor and mayor, he enrolled in 1524 at the University of Wittenberg. There he acquired in 1533 the academic degree of a master and in 1537 on the advice of Johannes Bugenhagen Konrektor of the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums in Hamburg. In 1540 he became a lecturer and pastor at the cathedral there.

After Johannes Freder had become Superintendent in Stralsund in 1547, his attitude towards the Augsburger Interim did not change. Therefore, he was dismissed by the local council, was appointed by the Duke Philipp of Pomerania in 1549 as a professor of theology at the University of Greifswald and in 1550 appointed Superintendent of Rügen. As such, he came into conflict with the Roskilde bishop and the provincial church regiment.

Theologically, Johannes Freder gained importance in the dispute with Johannes Knipstro on the question of the laying on of hands to ordination, which held spring for an Adiaphoron. After Knipstro 1556 emerged victorious from the clashes, Freder was Superintendent in Wismar and was from 1557 to 1559 one of the most important Mecklenburg church scouts. As a valued translator, especially of Martin Luther's writings and as a poet of Low German hymns, his name has been preserved in the history of theology.

In 1536 Johannes Freder married Anna Falcke in Wittenberg and was thus a brother-in-law of Justus Jonas the Elder. From this marriage, was born the son Johannes Freder the Younger (1544-1604), who was the professor of theology in Rostock. His second marriage was with Sophia, daughter of the Greifswald and Rostock professor Martin Brasch.

Selected Works

Philippi Pomeranum ducis et Mariae ducissae Saxioniae epithalamium (Wittenberg 1536)
Loff und Vnschuldt der Frowen

Source: German Wikipedia Website (June 2018), English translation by Aryeh Oron (September 2018)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (September 2018)

Texts of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

BWV 346

Chorale Texts used in Bach’s Vocal Works

Ich dank dir, Gott, für all Wohltat (1552; NLGB 200)

Links to other Sites

Johann Freder (Wikipedia) [German]
Freder, Johann (Deutsche Biographie) [German]

Bibliography

Gottlieb Mohnike: Des Johannes Frederus Leben und geistliche Lieder. Eine kirchenhistorische Monographie in drei Abtheilungen (Stralsund 1837–40), 3 Bde. (Digitalisate in der Digitalen Bibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
Herrmann Müller: Freder, Johannes. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 7, (Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877), S. 327–331.
Ernst Kähler: Freder, Johannes. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 5 (Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961), ISBN 3-428-00186-9, S. 387 f. (Digitalisat).
Frederus, Joannes auch Irenaeus genannt. In: Johann Heinrich Zedler: Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und Künste. Band 9 (Leipzig 1735 Spalte 1795).
Heinz Scheible: Melanchthons Briefwechsel Personen Band 12
Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Johannes Freder. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 2 (Bautz, Hamm 1990), ISBN 3-88309-032-8, Sp. 116–117.