Son of a Lu­ther­an cler­gy­man, Ni­co­lai stu­died the­ol­o­gy at the Un­i­ver­si­ties of Er­furt and Wit­ten­berg from about 1575 to 1579. He then be­came pas­tor in Herd­ecke an der Ruhr, but was driv­en out by Span­ish Count­er-Re­form­a­tion mer­cen­ary troops dur­ing the re­li­gious war. He moved to Köln (Co­logne), a tho­rough­ly Ca­tho­lic ci­ty, and was a preach­er of the Lu­ther­an con­gre­ga­tions, who at that time met se­cret­ly in hous­es.

In 1588, Ni­co­lai be­came Hof­pred­iger (Court Preach­er) and teach­er of the Count of Wal­deck in Wild­ung­en, Hes­sen. In 1596, he be­came a pas­tor in Un­na, West­phal­ia. Dur­ing his Un­na years, plague killed hund­reds of his pa­rish­ion­ers. For con­so­la­tion, Ni­co­lai wrote his book Freu­den­spie­gel des ewig­en Leb­ens (Joy­ous Mir­ror of Eter­nal Life), ed­it­ed in 1599. His two most fa­mous hymns were pub­lished in that work.

In 1601, Ni­co­lai be­came pas­tor at Ka­tha­rin­en­kirche (St. Ka­ther­ine’s Church) in Ham­burg, where he served the rest of his life.

Sources

Hymns

1. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
   • Sleepers, Wake! The Watch Cry Pealeth
   • Wake, Awake, the Night Is Fly­ing
   • Wake, O Wake! with Tidings Thrilling
2. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
   • How Bright Appears the Morn­ing Star
   • How Lovely Shines the Morning Star
   • O Morn­ing Star, How Fair and Bright

Music

1. Wach­et Auf
   • Sleepers, Wake
2. Wie Schön Leuch­tet