Simon Dach

Simon Dach (Memel, now Klaipėda in Lithuania, 1605 – Königsberg, 1659) was a German-language poet and a central figure in the literary life of Königsberg, capital of the Duchy of Prussia. He is remembered chiefly for his hymns, which are still sung in Protestant churches, and for his role in promoting poetry in his city during the seventeenth century.

He came from a modest background; his father worked as a poorly paid court interpreter. Dach attended schools in Königsberg, Wittenberg and Magdeburg, then studied theology and philosophy at the university in Königsberg, where he settled for the rest of his life. After a period as a private tutor, he taught at the cathedral school and in 1639 was appointed professor of poetry at the university, a post he held until his death. His official duties included writing verses for academic celebrations, usually in Latin or Greek.

With Heinrich Albert, Robert Roberthin, Georg Weissel and others, he formed a circle known as the Kürbishütte, which met in Albert's summer house to compose and read new songs. Their eight volumes of poems and songs, published between 1638 and 1650, were very successful, and many of Dach's pieces spread across Germany, sometimes in pirated editions. He wrote more than 150 hymns in a plain, direct and intimate style, alongside occasional poems and verses honouring the electors of Brandenburg.

His legacy lives on in the hymns that are still sung in Protestant congregations. His poetry was collected and published posthumously in 1696 as Poetische Werke. He is also credited with the Low German poem Ännchen von Tharau, which Herder later rendered into standard German and which became widely known.