Heimweh

Author: Heinrich von Laufenberg

Heinrich of Laufenburg was a native of Laufenburg, Aargau, Switzerland, The earliest notice of him is that in 1434 he was decan of the Collegiate Church of St. Maurice at Zofingen in Aargau. He afterwards held a similar post at Freiburg, in Baden; but in 1445 became a monk in the monastery of the Knights of St. John at Strassburg ("Zum grunen Werde"). He was living there in 1458, but probably died in that year or soon after (Koch, i. 213-214; Allgemine Deutsche Biographie, xix. 810-813, &c). He was the most important and most prolific hymn-writer of the 15th century, and a number of his productions are of sweetness and abiding worth. Most of them are in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many are in intricate metres, while others are writt… Go to person page >