Otto Riethmüller

Otto Riethmüller (26 February 1889 – 19 November 1938) was a German Lutheran minister, writer, and hymnwriter. He was the president of Protestant youth organisations from 1928, published songbooks, and was a leading member of the Confessing Church. He designed the Protestant youth organization's logo, the Cross on the Globe, which is still used today.

Life and career Born in Cannstatt, Riethmüller studied theology at the University of Tübingen and was especially influenced by Adolf Schlatter. He held several offices as parish minister, including from 1919 in Esslingen am Neckar. The couple had two sons and a daughter.

In 1928, Riethmüler became director of the national Protestant organisation of young women (Evangelischer Reichsverband weiblicher Jugend) in the Burckhardthaus in Berlin-Dahlem, which was founded by Johannes Burckhardt in 1889. and also the Otto-Riethmüller-Haus in Stuttgart, a Protestant vacation retreat in a forest.

Songs

The following songs, which Riethmüller wrote or edited, are part of the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch of 1993. They were all published in 1932, with the exception of "Du Schöpfer aller Wesen" which appeared in 1934: "Der Morgenstern ist aufgedrungen" (text ed., EG 69) "Singen wir heut mit einem Mund" (text ed., EG 104) "Das Wort geht von dem Vater aus" (text ed., EG 223) "Lob Gott getrost mit Singen" (melody ed., EG 243) "Sonne der Gerechtigkeit" (compilation and choice of melody, EG 262+263) "Du Schöpfer aller Wesen" (text and Melodie, EG 485) "Herr, wir stehen Hand in Hand" (text, EG 602, regional part for Lower Saxony and Bremen)

Literature Emil Lauxmann: Otto Riethmüller: Sein Leben und sein Wirken (Begegnungen, [N.F.], vol. 1). Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1959. Martin Rößler: Liedermacher im Gesangbuch. vol. 3: Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Ernst Moritz Arndt, Albert Knapp, Otto Riethmüller, Jochen Klepper (Calwer Taschenbibliothek, 6). Calwer Verlag, Stuttgart 1991.