"Lamm Gottes, für uns gegeben" (Lamb of God, given for us) is a Christian hymn in German with text by
Eugen Eckert and a tune by Horst Christill. It is of the genre
Neues Geistliches Lied. The song reflects the liturgical
Agnus Dei. It is part of regional sections of the common German Catholic hymnal.
History, text and music
The Protestant theologian and pastor
Eugen Eckert from
Frankfurt wrote the text of "Lamm Gottes, für uns gegeben". Eckert and the composer
Horst Christill are regarded as prolific authors of songs of
Neues Geistliches Lied (New sacred song). The song appeared in the first common German Catholic hymnal Gotteslob in 1975 in the regional section for the
Diocese of Limburg as GL 986,[1] and is contained in its
second edition there as GL 740.[1] In the
Diocese of Hildesheim, it is part of the second edition as GL 767.[2] The song is part of other hymnals and songbooks.[3]
As in the liturgical Agnus Dei, the
Lamb of God is addressed three times, in three
stanzas of four lines each. In all three stanzas, the third line begins also with "Lamm Gottes". The first two stanzas, as in the liturgy, end in a call to have mercy. The tune was composed by Horst Christill. The melody is in
F major. The range is from low C to high C.[4]