Nikolaus Decius

Who is Nikolaus Decius?

Nikolaus Decius was a German monk, hymn-writer and composer.

He was probably born in Hof in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, around 1485. He studied at the University of Leipzig and obtained a masters degree at Wittenburg University in 1523 and became a monk. Although a monk, he was an advocate of the Protestant Reformation and a disciple of Martin Luther. He was Probst of the cloister at Steterburg from 1519 until July 1522 when he was appointed a master in the St. Katherine and Egidien School in Brunswick. He wrote in 1523 for Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, adapted by Martin Luther in 1525, a German paraphrase of the Latin Gloria. Decius's version was first sung on Easter Day at Brunswick on 5 April 1523. Decius's Low German version first appeared in print in Gesang Buch by Joachim Sluter, printed in 1525.

In 1526, Decius became preacher at the Church of St. Nicholas in Stettin at the same time Paulus von Rhode was appointed preacher at St. Jacob's in Stettin. In 1535 he became pastor of St. Nicholas and died there in March 1541 after a suspected poisoning. Shortly before his death he wrote the hymn "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" sung on a tune from the 13th century.