Gerhard Tersteegen

Gerhard Tersteegen (November 25, 1697 - April 3, 1769), a German Reformed religious writer, born at Moers, at that time the capital of a countship belonging to the house of Orange-Nassau (it fell to Prussia in 1702), which formed a Protestant enclave in the midst of a Catholic country.

After being educated at the gymnasium of his native town, Tersteegen was for some years apprenticed to a merchant. He soon came under the influence of Wilhelm Hoffman, a pietistic revivalist, and devoted himself to writing and public speaking, withdrawing in 1728 from all secular pursuits and giving himself entirely to religious work. His writings include a collection of hymns ("Das geistliche Blumengartlein" (The spiritual flower-garden), 1729; new edition, Stuttgart, 1868), a volume of "Gebete" (prayers), and another of "Briefe" (letters), besides translations of the writings of the French mystics and of Julian of Norwich. He died in Mülheim, North Rhine-Westphalia.

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