1597–1639

Introduction

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Born: De­cem­ber 23, 1597, Bunz­lau, Si­le­sia (now Bo­le­sła­wiec, Po­land).

Died: Au­gust 20, 1639, Gdańsk, Po­land, of the plague: During the pe­st­ilence which visited Dan­zig [Gdańsk] in 1639 he was ac­cost­ed on Aug. 17 by a di­seas­ed beg­gar to whom he gave an alms [sic], and whose fright­ful ap­pear­ance so af­fect­ed him that he re­turned home, sick­ened of the pes­ti­lence (Ju­li­an, p. 871).

Buried: Saint Ma­ry’s Church ce­me­te­ry, Gdańsk, Po­land.

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Biography

Martin was the son of but­cher Se­bas­ti­an Opitz and Mar­tha Roth­mann, and hus­band of An­na Opitz.

Educated at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Frank­furt-on-Oder and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hei­del­berg, he was one of the best known po­ets of his time. Some have called him the fa­ther of Ger­man po­e­try. In 1625, Em­per­or Fer­di­nand II crowned him po­et lau­re­ate as a re­ward for a re­qui­em po­em writ­ten on the death of Arch­duke Charles of Aus­tria (the em­per­or’s bro­ther, and Prince-Bi­shop of Bres­lau [now Wro­cław, Po­land]).

In 1635, Opitz moved to Dan­zig (Gdańsk) in the Po­lish–Li­thu­a­ni­an Com­mon­wealth, where King Wła­dy­sław IV Va­sa of Po­land made him his his­to­ri­o­gra­pher and sec­re­ta­ry. A few years lat­er, the king made Opitz a no­ble­man with the title von Bo­ber­feld.

Works

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Brich auf, und werde Lichte
  2. O Licht, geboren aus dem Lichte
    • O Holy Light, of Light En­gen­dered
    • O Light, Who Out of Light Wast Born
    • O Sun of Right­eous­ness, Thou Light
    • Thou Light, from Light Eter­nal Spring­ing