Du, o schönes Weltgebäude
"" (You, o beautiful building of the world) is a Lutheran hymn in German, with lyrics by Johann Franck and a hymn tune by Johann Crüger. It was first published in Crüger's 1649 "Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien", and was later adopted in other hymnals, such as the 1653 edition of his . The topic is renouncing the world, hoping to be united with Jesus. While the hymn is no longer in practical use, one stanza was prominently used in Bach's solo cantata "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen", BWV 56. History. The text, a reflection when facing  death, was written by Johann Franck in eight stanzas. With a melody by Johann Crüger, the song appeared first in Crüger's hymnal "Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien" (Sacred church melodies) of 1649, with the incipit "Du geballtes Weltgebäude". It was included in his in the 1653 edition. A 1864 anthology of sacred poetry from Martin Luther to Klopstock contains seven stanzas. The hymn is no longer used. Text. The text opens with a stanza exposing a disdain for worldly pleasures, renouncing the world for longing for a world beyond in unity with Jesus. Jesus is consistently addressed in the last lines  of all stanzas, as "Jesulein" (Little Jesus), with an attribute such as "allerschönstes" (most beautiful) or ""allerliebstes" (dearest). More modern editions changed the text, for example the last line of the first stanza to "lieber Herr und Heiland mein" (My dear Lord and Saviour). The sixth stanza calls Death, brother of sleep, to come. The image was already in antic literature and decoration. Martin Luther wrote in "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin", a paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis: "Der Tod ist mein Schlaf worden" (Death became my sleep). The following line uses the metaphor of a voyage by  ship, which was used in antic writing for life, the course of states, and love life. A metrical translation into English was provided by Henry Drinker. In the seventh stanza, Franck called the body the prison of the soul, an image previously used in Plato's "Cratylus". Melody and settings. The melody by Johann Crüger, Zahn No. 6773, is in bar form. Other hymns sung to the same melody include Paul Gerhardt's "Jesu, liebster Bruder", which addresses the "dearest Brother" as anchor and rudder ("Anker" and "Ruder"). It was printed by Zimmermann in 1821. Johann Sebastian Bach composed a  four-part chorale setting, BWV 301. He used the sixth stanza, "Komm, o Tod, des Schlafes Bruder" (Come, o Death, brother of sleep), for the closing chorale of his solo cantata for bass, "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen", BWV 56.