Nun ruhen alle Wälder
Nun ruhen alle Wälder. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
This very beautiful evening hymn was first published in Johann Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica (1648). It had nine 6-line stanzas, all of which are found in EG in the Abend (evening) section (EG 477). From the opening image of the sleeping woods, it passes to a description of night and sleep, safe in the eye of the God who watches over Israel, and guarded by the host of angels. In Johann Georg Ebeling*’s Pauli Gerhardti Geistliche Andachten (1666-67) it was set to the tune O WELT ICH MUSS DICH LASSEN, for ‘O Welt, ich muss dich lassen’*, which remains the melody in EG.
In English-speaking countries it is famous for the translation by...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "Nun ruhen alle Wälder."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 13 Jul. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/n/nun-ruhen-alle-waelder>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Nun ruhen alle Wälder."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed July 13, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/n/nun-ruhen-alle-waelder.