# Maria Luise Thurmair

Maria Luise Thurmair née Mumelter (27 September 1912 – 24 October 2005) was a German Catholic theologian, hymnodist and writer. She contributed the lyrics of many hymns when the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob was first published in 1975.

## Career

Maria Luise Mumelter was born in Bozen, South Tyrol, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the daughter of the towns's last Austrian Bezirkshauptmann [de]. Due to political pressure, the family moved to Innsbruck, where she earned her Matura. She studied philosophy at the University of Innsbruck and attended classes in Liturgics with Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ. She wrote her doctoral thesis on Irene Angelina of Byzanz in 1936. She married Georg Thurmair, a poet in Munich, in 1941.
Thurmair and her husband were active in the Catholic Youth Movement [de] and especially in the Liturgical Movement. She began during World War II to work for the Innsbruck hymnal Gotteslob, followed by contributions to several hymnals of German dioceses, the songbooks Singende Gemeinde (Singing congregation) and Kirchenlied (Church song), a precursor of the later Gotteslob. She translated Latin hymns and several books. She published during the war Liebesgespräche im Krieg (Love talks during the war), a lyrical dialogue of letters including poems which she exchanged with her husband who was a soldier. It was reprinted in 1981 by Aventinus. She lectured on subjects such as faith, liturgical year, first communion and religious education. The couple had six children and lived in Munich.
From 1963, Thurmair worked on the first Catholic hymnal for German-speaking countries, Gotteslob (GL), as the only woman in the commission. The first edition of 1975 included 38 of her songs, which was the highest number for one hymnwriter. Some of her hymns (or single stanzas) have also been included in the Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG). The current Gotteslob includes 28 of her songs.
She received the Papal order Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. She died in Germering, near Munich.

## Works
### Selected prose works

* Thurmair, Maria Luise; Thurmair, Georg (1981). Liebesgespräche im Krieg (in German). Eggenfelden. ISBN 978-3-88481-004-0. OCLC 632448046.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
* Fünf Paar Kinderschuhe

### Hymns in Gotteslob

Several of her hymns appear in the current Catholic German hymnal Gotteslob, and even more in its first 1975 edition. She wrote several lyrics for the parts of the mass Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, and many psalm songs, often on traditional melodies. Several songs are related to the occasions of the liturgical year, such as Advent, Christmas and Pentecost. Other songs relate to events such as the Stations of the Cross. She wrote many Psalmlieder, rephrasing psalms. The table lists the incipit, the place of the hymn in the liturgy, a model for the text, year and author of the melody in the current Gotteslob when the song appears in it, otherwise of the first edition, the year when the text was completed, the numbers in the first and current Gotteslob, and notes.
| Incipit | Liturgy | Text source | Tune | Year | GL 1975 | GL | Note |
| Tau aus Himmelshöhn | Kyrie | | 1952 Rohr | 1952 | 103 | 158 | Advent |
| Licht, das uns erschien | Kyrie | | 2009 Alan Wilson | 1952 | 129 | 159 | Christmas |
| Gott des Vaters ewger Sohn | Kyrie | | 1952 Rohr | 1952 | 524 | 160 | |
| Der in seinem Wort uns hält | Kyrie | | 1950 Rohr | 1958 | 485 | 164 | |
| Send uns deines Geistes Kraft | Kyrie | | 1950 Rohr | 1952 | 246 | 165 | Pentecost |
| Christus, Gotteslamm | Kyrie | | 1952 Rohr | 1952 | 175 | | |
| Herr Jesus, König ewiglich | Kyrie | | 1601 Johann Koler | 1962 | 518 | | |
| Preis und Ehre Gott dem Herren | Gloria | | 1962 Rohr | 1971 | 486 | 171 | |
| Herr, Gott im Himmel, dir sei Ehre | Gloria | | 1971 Otmar Faulstich | 1970 | 458 | | |
| Herr, deine Güt ist unbegrenzt | Psalm | Psalm 36 | 1525 Greitter | 1971 | 289 | 427 | |
| Erbarme dich, erbarm dich mein | Psalm | Psalm 51 | 1562 Ulenberg | 1975 | 164 | 268 | Penitence |
| König ist der Herr | Psalm | Psalm 99 | 1562 | 1971 | 275 | | |
| Herr, dir ist nichts verborgen | Psalm | Psalm 139 | 1562 Ulenberg | 1973 | 292 | 428 | |
| Dich will ich rühmen, Herr und Gott | Psalm | Psalm 145 | 1971 Paul Ernst Ruppel | 1971 | 274 | | |
| Ihr Sonnen und Monde stanzas 2–5 for Erfreue dich, Himmel | Psalm | Psalm 148 | 1669 | 1963 | 259 | 467 | |
| Gott ist dreifaltig einer | Credo | | 1642 | 1943 | 489 | 354 | |
| Dir Vater Lobpreis werde | Offertory | | 1562 Ulenberg | 1975 | 523 | 183 | |
| Hoch sei gepriesen unser Gott | Benedictus | | 1530 | 1985 | | 384 | |
| Den Herren will ich loben | Magnificat | Magnificat | 1614 Teschner | 1972 | 261 | 395 | |
| Tag an Glanz und Freuden groß | Christmas | Dies est laetitiae | 1320 | 1969 | 137 | | Paraphrase |
| Das Geheimnis lasst uns künden | Corpus Christi | Pange Lingua | 1300 | 1969 | 544 | | Paraphrase |
| Lobe, Zion, deinen Hirten | Corpus Christi | Lauda Sion | 1300 | 1972 | 545 | 850 | Würzburg region, paraphrase |
| Komm herab, o Heilger Geist | Pentecost | Veni Sancte Spiritus | 1200 | 1971 | 244 | 344 | paraphrase, with Markus Jenny |
| Der Geist des Herrn erfüllt das All | Pentecost | | 1609 Vulpius | 1946 | 249 | 347 | |
| Du heller Schein, du lebendig Licht stanzas 2–5 for Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist | Pentecost | | 1500 | 1994 | 248 | 348 | |
| Komm, o Tröster, Heilger Geist | Pentecost | Veni Sancte Spiritus | 1639 | 1972 | 250 | 349 | |
| Salve – Maria, Königin | | Salve Regina | 1666 | 1979 | 572 | | |
| Maria, Mutter unsres Herrn | | Alma Redemptoris Mater | 1599 | 1969 | 577 | 530 | after an old hymn |
| Dank sei dir, Vater, für das ewge Leben | | | 1640 Crüger | 1994 | 634 | 484 | |
| Such uns heim mit deiner Kraft stanzas 2–4 for Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit | | | 1662 Ahle | 1975 | 668 | 84 | Morning |
| Herr, wir hören auf dein Wort | | | 1960 Heino Schubert | 1959 | 998/2 | 449 | |
| Laßt uns den Engel preisen | | | 1614 Teschner | 1975 | 687 | 540 | Angels |
| Sieh, dein Licht will kommen | | | 1971 Markus Jenny | 1971 | 147 | | |
| Du schweigst, Herr | Passion | | 1965 Bertold Hummel | 1972 | 185 | 773 | Würzburg region, Stations of the Cross |
| Alles Leben ist dunkel | | | 1973 Wolfgang Menschick | 1971 | 552 | | |
| Komm, Herr Jesu, komm | | | 1951 Rohr | 1973 | 568 | | |
| Gelobt sei Gott in aller Welt | Apostles | | 1970 Erhard Quack | 1970 | 610 | 882 | Würzburg region |
| In Jubel, Herr, wir dich erheben | Martyrs | | 1970 Erhard Quack | 1940 | 611 | | |
| Herr, sei gelobt durch deinen Knecht | | | 1940 Erhard Quack | 1970 | 612 | 880 | Würzburg region |
| Gott sei durch euch gepriesen | Virgins | | 1971 Erhard Quack | 1972 | 613 | | |
| Sieh, dein Licht will kommen | Christmas | | 1971 Markus Jenny | 1971 | 147 | | |
| Seht unsers Herrn Erbarmen im Tempel dagestellt | | | | | 837 | 785 | Passau region |

## Literature

* Martin Lätzel, "Thurmair-Mumelter, Maria-Luise." In Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL), vol 27, Bautz, Nordhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-393-2.