The Importance of the Magdeburg Enchiridion
For nearly 150 years, since Philipp Wackernagel’s pioneering study, the sources of early Lutheran hymnody have been subjected to intensive scholarly scrutiny. Because they have been investigated so thoroughly, it is unusual for a previously unknown or little, known hymnal from this period to come to light. The book that is reproduced here, how, ever, represents just such a case. Since the Enchiridion Geistliker leder vnde Psalmen (Magdeburg: Michael Lotter, 1536) was long in private possession, it is absent from the older studies of early hymnody (by Wackernagel, Geffcken, Bachmann, Wiechmann, and others) and from the standard list of Low German prints (by Borchling and Claussen). In 1962, when it passed from one owner to the next, the Magdeburg Enchiridion was the subject of a short article in the catalog of the antiquarian bookshop that handled its sale. Shortly thereafter, it was mentioned briefly in the leading hymnological yearbook, and it has since appeared in several listings of sixteenth-century prints. But until now this source has eluded systematic investigation. The purpose of this study and edition is to assess the place of the Magdeburg Enchiridion in the history of Lutheran hymnody and to make it available for further study.
Not every old book is worth reprinting. Why does this volume deserve to become more widely known? First, it is one of the few surviving Low German hymnals dating from Luther’s lifetime. Until well into the sixteenth century, Low German (more closely related to English, Dutch, and modern Plattdeutsch than to High German) was the spoken and written language of North Germany. This area included the northern cities of Emden, Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Rostock, and extended as far west as Cologne and as far south as Magdeburg and Wittenberg. Since High German apparently was not readily understood in the North, the writings and songs of the Reformation were translated into Low German. ln addition to the Bible, Luther’s works, and other catechetical and ecclesiastical writings, hymnals began to appear in Low German as early as 1525. Although Low German hymnals were quite common in the second quarter of the sixteenth century, only a handful have been preserved (see Appendix 3). The vast majority of these books wore out from constant daily use, were destroyed by enemies of the Reformation, or were discarded as Low German gradually was replaced by High German in the first half of the seventeenth century. The Magdeburg Enchiridion, then, offers a rare glimpse of what was once a flourishing print culture.
Second, this volume is one of the earliest hymnals printed in Magdeburg. This city, the first major free city in North Germany to adopt the ideas of the Reformers, had a long and proud association with Martin Luther. In 1497 Luther had been a pupil in the cathedral school, and “he probably sang in the cathedral worship services as a member of the school choir." The city chronicle reports that on 6 May 1524 “a poor old man” [ein loser Bettler] stood in the marketplace, and offered for sale and sang two of Luther’s earliest hymns, “Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir” and “Es wollt uns Gott genädig sein." Before long Luther’s song were introduced for daily use in the churches. In early June a civic official, Nicolas Sturm, traveled to Wittenberg and invited Luther to visit the city. During his week in Magdeburg Luther preached to large crowds, and by the time he left almost everyone was committed to his ideas. By July Protestant pastors had been installed in the city’s churches, and shortly thereafter Luther sent a member of his inner circle, Nicolaus von Amsdorf, to continue the work of the Reformation. Under Amsdorf’s leadership Magdeburg was among the first to accept the Augsburg Confession, and it became “the primary bulwark of Lutheranism in Northern Germany." The Enchiridion, containing many hymns by Luther and his circle, documents yet another link between this city and the most prominent German Reformer.
Third, the Magdeburg Enchiridion was published by Michael Lotter, the most important printer of Luther’s works in Magdeburg. Michael (c. 1499-after 1556) was the third son of Melchior Lotter, Sr. (before 1470-1549), a distinguished printer in Leipzig who published the works of Luther, the early humanists, the classics, and Catholic literature. Michael’s older brother, Melchior, Jr. (born c. 1490), established the Wittenberg branch of his father’s business. Beginning in December 1519, he printed many of the writings of Luther and his circle, including the first edition (1522) of Luther’s translation of the New Testament, the so-called September Testament. A dispute with a local bookbinder escalated to the point that eventually he fell out of favor with Luther and the elector, and in the early months of 1525 returned to his father’s shop in Leipzig. During the summer of 1523 Melchior, Sr. had sent Michael to Wittenberg to assist his brother. For nearly two years the Lotter brother printed both jointly and individually. In 1528 Michael moved his print shop to Magdeburg because there no longer was enough work for him in Wittenberg. Over the next thirty years, several hundred works appeared with his imprint.
The Magdeburg Enchiridion is significant not only because it is one of the first hymnals printed by Michael Lotter but also because it is based on a different model than the other extant Low German hymnals. Except for the two earliest (1525 and 1526), almost all of the Low German hymnals printed during Luther’s lifetime are editions of the so-called double hymnal, published by Ludwig Dietz in Rostock in 1531 (no. 3 in Appendix 3). By contrast, the Magdeburg Enchiridion is patterned after the first congregational hymnal in Leipzig, published around 1530 by Michael Blum. Though the Rostock and Leipzig hymnals contain roughly the same repertory, the order of the individual songs differs. Michael Lotter possibly obtained a copy of Blum’s book from his father who was still active as a printer in Leipzig during the 1530s.
Finally, the Magdeburg Enchiridion merits closer examination because, in addition to the printed material, its endpapers contain four handwritten hymns. These manuscript entries, mentioned by Volz only in passing, are transcribed and identified for the first time in Appendix 2. The hymns, apparently penned in the early 1540s, are valuable for the light they shed on the early transmission of this repertory. Furthermore, their orthography, which differs significantly from that of the printed songs, provides important clues concerning the early whereabouts of the book.