When possible, primary sources are used and scans of that source offered. For the text of Gerhardt’s hymns, three primary sources are used:

1. Johann Crüger’s Praxis pietatis melica (1649 and later editions)

A contemporary and friend of Paul Gerhardt, Johann Crüger was the first to publish Gerhardt’s hymns in his Praxis pietatis melica.

2. Johann Ebeling’s Pauli Gerhardi Geistliche Andachten (1667 and later editions)

Johann Ebeling was a close friend of Gerhardt and succeeded Crüger as cantor at the church of St. Nicholas in Berlin. He devoted his book Pauli Gerhardi Geistliche Andachten solely to the hymns of Paul Gerhardt.

3. Johann Feustking’s Pauli Gerhardi Geistreiche Hauss- und Kirchen-Lieder (1707 and later editions)

The son of Paul Gerhardt, Paul Friedrich Gerhardt, left the last will of his father including all of his hymns to superintendent Feustking in Zerbst. Paul Gerhardt’s songs were published in a book by Feustking with the last will printed within the preface.