“Now Thank We All Our God” is the hymn people reach for when they want to say thank you in song, and it came out of one of the worst stretches of European history. Its author was a Lutheran pastor in a walled Saxon town swamped by refugees, plague and hunger. This is what the surviving record shows about Martin Rinkart, the Bible text behind the hymn, the tune that has carried it for nearly four centuries, and one famous battlefield story that historians doubt.
Quick Answer
“Now Thank We All Our God” is Catherine Winkworth’s 1858 English translation of “Nun danket alle Gott,” written by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart (1586–1649). It was first printed, without music, in Rinkart’s Jesu Hertz-Büchlein (Leipzig, 1636). The tune, usually called Nun danket alle Gott, was published by Johann Crüger in the 1647 edition of Praxis Pietatis Melica. The first two stanzas follow Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 50:22–24, and the third is a Trinitarian doxology. The text and tune are in the public domain.
Who Martin Rinkart Was
Rinkart was born on 23 April 1586 in Eilenburg, Saxony, and died there on 8 December 1649. He served at Eisleben and then as archdeacon at Eilenburg, where he was a Lutheran pastor through the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). Eilenburg was a walled town, so it became a refuge for people fleeing the fighting, and the overcrowding brought famine and disease.
The Hymnology Archive quotes the nineteenth-century hymnologist James Mearns on what followed. During the great pestilence of 1637 the town’s superintendent left and could not be persuaded to return. For a time Rinkart was the only clergyman in the place, and he often read the burial service over 40 to 50 people a day. Mearns counts about 4,480 services in all, with some 8,000 deaths in the epidemic, including Rinkart’s first wife, who died on 8 May 1637. At the end the dead were buried in trenches without a service. A severe famine came straight after, and Rinkart’s own resources were stretched to the limit helping his people.
Those are the conditions to hold in mind when you sing the first line.
When Was It Written?
The honest answer is “between about 1630 and 1636, and nobody can say exactly.” The printed fact is firm: the hymn appears in Jesu Hertz-Büchlein (Leipzig, 1636), in three stanzas of eight lines. Wikipedia notes that it appears there under the title Tisch-Gebetlein, a short prayer before meals, which fits its plain, direct tone.
The dating beyond that is soft:
- **1630:** in the preface to a 1637 book, Rinkart says the songs in his <em>Hertz-Büchlein</em> were finished six or seven years earlier, so the hymn may have been composed closer to 1630. The Hymnology Archive adds that a manuscript, once held by a descendant and now lost, is reported to have carried the date 24 June 1630.
- **1644:** Catherine Winkworth believed it was written after the great epidemic, in 1644.
- **After the worst of it:** the Hymnology Archive points out that the hymn was published before the worst of the catastrophe, so it should not be read simply as a response to the 1637 funerals. Rinkart lived in wartime throughout.
So the safe statement is that this is a thanksgiving hymn from a man living in the middle of a long war, not necessarily a hymn written the week after the plague.
The Bible Text Behind It
The first two stanzas are based on a passage in the Apocrypha, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 50:22–24: “And now bless the God of all, who in every way does great things; who exalts our days from birth, and deals with us according to his mercy.” Rinkart’s wording is close to Martin Luther’s German version of that passage. Compare the opening of Winkworth’s English:
> Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices, who wondrous things hath done, in whom this world rejoices; who from our mothers’ arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
“From our mothers’ arms” is Sirach’s “from birth.” The second stanza asks for “ever joyful hearts and blessed peace” and for freedom from all ills “in this world and the next.” The third gives praise to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, “the one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore.” Because Sirach is Apocrypha, some Protestant congregations may want a one-line note on where the words come from.
Winkworth’s Translation
Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878) printed her version in Lyra Germanica, Second Series (London, 1858), as text only. It was then set to Crüger’s tune in The Chorale Book for England (1863). The Hymnology Archive calls it a faithful rendering that keeps the original meter and rhyme scheme.
In her 1869 book Christian Singers of Germany, Winkworth wrote that the hymn “has become the popular ‘Te Deum’ of Germany” and is chosen on great public occasions to express the nation’s thanks. The Hymnology Archive also reports that it was sung to mark the end of the Thirty Years’ War at the Peace of Westphalia on 10 December 1648; treat that as a reported use, not a documented ceremony.
The Tune: Crüger, Bach and Mendelssohn
Johann Crüger (1598–1662) published the melody with the text in the 1647 edition of Praxis Pietatis Melica. It is often credited to him, though it is sometimes also attributed to Rinkart. Either way, it has stayed with the words ever since, in German and English alike.
Two famous composers took it up:
- **J. S. Bach** used it in Cantata BWV 192 (1730), and Wikipedia lists further settings, including a four-voice chorale and a chorale prelude.
- **Felix Mendelssohn** used it in 1840 as the chorale in his <em>Lobgesang</em> (Symphony No. 2, “Hymn of Praise”). Wikipedia says his harmonisation is the standard one now, in G major.
The Hymnology Archive also records a second English-language tune, Gracias, by the Anglican priest Geoffrey Beaumont (1903–1970), first published in 1957 from his 20th Century Folk Mass. If your congregation has two tunes in circulation, this is one of them. The choral setting by John Rutter (1974) is another way many choirs meet the hymn.
The “Leuthen Chorale” Story, and How Far to Trust It
A widely repeated story says that after the Battle of Leuthen in 1757 the whole victorious Prussian army began singing the hymn on the battlefield. That is why the tune is sometimes called the Leuthen Chorale. Wikipedia reports that historians and musicologists question it and see it as a later invention of Prussian propaganda. Enjoy it as tradition if you like, but do not present it as a documented event in a bulletin or a lesson.
Why It Lasts
The hymnologist Erik Routley, quoted by the Hymnology Archive, said it “has gained and kept its popularity because of its brevity, its simplicity, its commonplace and unpretentious celebration of that brightest of Christian graces: gratitude.” Three stanzas, plain words, a tune a congregation can sing from memory. It is not a hymn about feeling grateful on a good day. Rinkart’s thanks sit alongside a war and a plague, which is why it works on a day when gratitude takes some effort.
Using It in Church
- **Thanksgiving week and beyond.** US Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, 26 November 2026. The hymn was not written for a harvest festival, but it is a natural opening or closing hymn that week. It suits any service where the theme is thanks. If you are also planning ahead for the season after, see our [Advent hymns plan](/blog/advent-hymns-five-classics-four-sunday-plan).
- **Say a sentence about Rinkart.** “A pastor who buried thousands wrote this” changes how people sing the first line more than any tempo note.
- **Pair it deliberately.** It sits well beside another thanksgiving hymn from wartime Europe, [We Gather Together](/blog/we-gather-together-hymn-story), and beside [Great Is Thy Faithfulness](/blog/great-is-thy-faithfulness-hymn-story) or [How Firm a Foundation](/blog/how-firm-a-foundation-hymn-history).
- **Keep the tempo steady.** The hymn is long-breathed and stately. Count it in at a walking pace and let the congregation carry the rhythm.
- **Mind the version.** Rinkart’s text (1636), Winkworth’s translation (1858) and Crüger’s tune (1647) are in the public domain. Modern settings, new stanzas such as the interfaith ones noted by the Hymnology Archive, and recordings may be protected. Our [worship song credit and licensing checklist](/blog/worship-song-credit-licensing-checklist) shows what to log, and [how to build a worship set](/blog/how-to-build-a-worship-set) covers where a hymn like this fits in a service.
For the wider case for keeping hymns like this in rotation, see why ancient hymns still matter.
FAQ
Who wrote “Now Thank We All Our God”?
The German text “Nun danket alle Gott” was written by Martin Rinkart (1586–1649), a Lutheran pastor in Eilenburg, Saxony. The English translation most churches use is by Catherine Winkworth, first printed in 1858.
When was it written?
It was first printed in 1636 in Rinkart’s Jesu Hertz-Büchlein. The composition date is uncertain: possibly around 1630, and Winkworth thought 1644.
Did Rinkart write it during the plague?
Not necessarily. The hymn was printed in 1636, before the worst of the 1637 epidemic, though Rinkart was living through the Thirty Years’ War the whole time.
What is the tune called?
Usually Nun danket alle Gott, published by Johann Crüger in 1647. Bach and Mendelssohn both used it. A second English tune, Gracias, was written by Geoffrey Beaumont in the 1950s.
Is “Now Thank We All Our God” in the public domain?
The 1636 German text, Winkworth’s 1858 translation and Crüger’s 1647 tune are in the public domain. Modern arrangements, added stanzas and recordings may still be protected, so check the source before you print, project or stream them.
Sources
Hymnology Archive: Nun danket alle Gott
Wikipedia: Nun danket alle Gott