Georg Weissel wrote this in Königsberg, and when it was printed in 1642, seven years after his death, it carried the heading “Am Ersten Sontag deß Advents” — For the First Sunday in Advent. So a hymn full of opened gates and an arriving King was written for this exact morning, not borrowed from Palm Sunday. It is built on two texts: Psalm 24:7, which is also the appointed Verse today, and the Gospel just read. Weissel most likely wrote it for the dedication of a newly built church in the Rossgarten district, where he was installed as first pastor in 1623, which explains why the gates and doors are so literal. The tune is a surprise. Despite its German name, MILWAUKEE was written by August Lemke, a Lutheran schoolteacher and musician at Trinity Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. Its origin was obscure for decades; the first publication anywhere to credit him was a Concordia music reader for Lutheran schools in 1933. Catherine Winkworth filed her 1855 translation under the Fourth Sunday in Advent, then reworked the last two lines of every stanza in 1863 so it would fit the German tune. Our stanzas 4 and 5 are hers; stanzas 1 through 3 carry later hands.
Sung at Our Saviour
2025