Joachim Neander

Joachim Neander was a German Reformed Church minister and hymn writer, born in Bremen in 1650. He died at age 30, yet his hymn tunes became enduring staples of Protestant worship worldwide. His tune LOBE DEN HERREN (14.14.4.7.8), written c.1680, is among the most widely sung in the Western church.

Neander studied theology and served as rector of the Latin School in Düsseldorf. He was deeply influenced by the Pietist movement and wrote his hymns as personal expressions of faith and praise. A ravine near Düsseldorf where he often walked and sang became known as the Neander Valley (Neandertal) — the same valley that would later give its name to Neanderthal man, discovered there in 1856.