Ahasverus Fritsch

Ahasverus Fritsch (16 December 1629 – 24 August 1701) was a German jurist, poet and hymn writer of the Baroque era.

Fritsch was born in Mücheln as a son of the mayor. In 1631, the family was forced to flee when the city was burned down. Later he attended the Gymnasium in Halle, and in 1650 he enrolled at the law faculty of the University of Jena. In 1657 he was appointed Hofmeister by Count Albert Anton von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. In his legal career, he was clerk of the Court in 1665, and in 1687 Chancellor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was the first German legal scholar to deal with the danger of influencing the people by the press. Besides a large number of legal publications, he wrote hymns and devotional writings. He died in Rudolstadt.

Johann Sebastian Bach based his chorale cantata ''Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123'', for Epiphany 1725 on a hymn in six stanzas by Fritsch and used single stanzas in other cantatas. His stanza "Wie herrlich ist die neue Welt" (How magnificent is the new world)" is part of Carl Heinrich Graun's oratorio ''Der Tod Jesu''. Provided by Wikipedia