Julie Hausmann
Julie Katharina von Hausmann (born 7 March [O.S. 19 March] 1826[1] in Riga; died 2 August [O.S. 15 August] 1901[2] in Võsu, Estonia) was a Baltic German poet, known for the hymn Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me (German: So nimm denn meine Hände) with a melody by Friedrich Silcher. Earlier translations had been made by Herman Brueckner as "O take my hand, dear Father" and Elmer Leon Jorgenson as "Take Thou My Hand, and Lead Me."[3] The hymn has also been translated by Martha D. Lange, whose version appears in the Great Songs of the Church Revised (1986).[4]
Julie Hausmann was the daughter of a teacher. She worked for a while as a governess, but due to her ill health she lived with and cared for her father, who had gone blind. After his death in 1864, she lived with her sisters in Germany, Southern France and St. Petersburg, Russia. She died during a summer vacation in Estonia.
A legend circulates that Hausmann wrote her most famous poem "So nimm denn meine Hände" after journeying to see her fiancé at a mission and, on arriving, finding that he had just died. Various explorations of her biography have yet to confirm or deny the rumor. She never married.
Her poetry was published by others, including Gustav Knak without mentioning her name, at her request.
Works
- Maiblumen. Lieder einer Stillen im Lande. (May flowers) 2 volumes, 1862 (6th edition around 1880: Front cover Vol. 1)
- Bilder aus dem Leben der Nacht im Lichte des Evangeliums. 1868
- Hausbrot. Schlichte Morgen- und Abend-Andachten. 1899
- Blumen aus Gottes Garten. Lieder und Gedichte. 1902 (posthumous collection)
References
- ↑ Entry in baptismal register of St.-Jacobi church in Riga (Latvian: Rīgas sv. Jēkaba katedrāle)
- ↑ Entry in funeral register of Haljall (estonian: Haljala kogudus)
- ↑ Great Songs of the Church. Louisville, KY: Word and Work. 1921 (In subsequent editions the items changes hymn number, but does not appear at all in the 1937 Number Two edition reissued in 1974 with supplement.). Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ Forrest McCann, ed. (1986). Great Songs of the Church Revised. Abilene, TX: ACU Press. p. Item 527.
Literature
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz (1990). "Hausmann, Julie". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). 2. Hamm: Bautz. cols. 606–607. ISBN 3-88309-032-8.
- Elisabeth Schneider-Böklen: Hausmann, Julie. In: Komponisten und Liederdichter des Evangelischen Gesangbuchs. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999, p. 134.
External links
 |
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Literature by and about Julie Hausmann in the German National Library catalogue
- The Cyber Hymnal™
- Michael Fischer: So nimm denn meine Hände. Januar 2005; (pdf, 319 kB)
- So nimm denn meine Hände. at Sermon-Online in mp3 format