Karl August Döring › Hymnals

Döring, Carl August, son of B. L. Döring, chief forester at Mark-Alvensleben, near Magdeburg, was born at Mark-Alvensleben, Jan. 22, 1783. After completing his studies at the University of Halle, he was for some time private tutor at Waldenburg, in Silesia. In 1808 he was appointed a master in the school at Kloster-Bergen, near Magdeburg; and after its dissolution by Napoleon in 1810, acted for some time as a private tutor at Helmsdorf, near Eisleben. He was, in 1814, appointed afternoon preacher at St. Peter's Church, Magdeburg; in 1815 Archidiaconus of St. Andrew's Church at Eisleben; and in 1816 Pastor of the Lutheran Church at Elberfeld. He died at Elberfeld, Jan 17, 1844 (Koch, vii. 159-168; Allg. Deutsche Biog. , v. 348-349).

One of the most prolific of German hymnwriters, he produced some 1200 hymns, not a few of which have passed into use in Germany through the Berlin Gesang-Buchem, 1829, the Nassau Gesang-Buch, 1844, and other collections. They appeared mostly in his Christliches Hausgesangbuch. Of this pt. i was published at Elberfeld, 1821, with 515 hymns by himself, and 169 by others; the 2nd edition, Elberfeld, 1825, omitting those by other authors, and increasing his own to 630. Part ii was published at Elberfeld, 1830, with 551 hymns. Three have been translated:—

i. Ich weiss, dass mein Erlöser lebt, Er ward ja schon mein Leben! [Easter.] 1821, as above, No. 100, in 6 stansas, translated as “I know that my Redeemer lives; He is my life already," by N. L. Frothingham, 1870, p. 157.

ii. Vater, Sohn and heil'ger Geist. [Confirmation.] 1821, as above (No. 546), as a hymn for Confirmation. It is in 15 stanzas of various metres, st. i.-iii. being marked as to be sung by the congregation on behalf of the children; stanzas viii.-xiii. as a hymn of supplication by the children; stanzas iv.-vii. by the parents and teachers; and stanzas xiv.-xv., by the congregation as a general supplication. Two parts are in German common use, viz. stanzas i.-iii. as Rin Bunsen's Versuch, 1833, No. 614, beginning, "Segne, Vater, Sohn und Geist," as in Döring's edition 1825, No. 502; and stanzas viii.-xiii., beginning, "Wir flehn um deine Gnade," in Bunsen, No. 615, the Hamburg Gesang-Buch, 1842, No. 276, and many recent collections. The only translation in common use is—

Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Bless the Young. A good translation of stanzas i.-iii. by J. S. Stallybrass, in the Tonic Sol-fa Reporter, January, 1859, and thence, as No. 329, in the Scottish Presbyterian Hymnal, 1876.

iii. Taufe mich mit deiner Taufe, [Whitsuntide.] 1821, as above, No. 135, in 4 stanzas. It is translated as "With other baptism, Lord, baptise," by Dr. G. Walker, 1860, p. 66.

[Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)