Guter Hirt', du hast gestillt

Author: Johann W. Meinhold

Meinhold, Johann Wilhelm, D.D, son of Georg Wilhelm Meinhold, pastor at Netzelkow on the island of Usedom, was born at Netzelkow, Feb. 27, 1797, and entered the University of Greifswald in 1813. He became rector of the Town School at Usedom in 1820. In 1821 he was appointed pastor of Coserow in Usedom, and, in 1828, of Crummin in Usedom (D.D. from Erlangen in 1840). He finally became, at Easter, 1844, pastor at Behwinkel, near Stargard. He was a staunch Conservative, and after passing through the revolutionary period of 1848, this feeling, coupled with his leaning to Konian Catholicism, made him resign his living in the autumn of 1850. He retired to Charlottenburg, a suburb of Berlin, and died there, Nov. 30, 1851 (Allgemeine Deutsche Biogr… Go to person page >

Guter Hirt, p. 723, ii. The version in The English Hymnal, 1906, beginning "Gentle Shepherd, Thou hast stilled," is in two parts, the second, "God, we thank Thee; not in vain," being by the Rev. P. Dearmer. Of the 16 lines in the first part, there are 7 more or less altered from Miss Winkworth's version of the German; the rest are not hers. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)