Macht hoch die Tür
| "Macht hoch die Tür" | |
|---|---|
| Lutheran hymn | |
"Macht hoch die Tür" in a five-part setting by Max Reger
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| Written | 1623 |
| Text | by Georg Weissel |
| Language | German |
| Melody | by |
| Composed |
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| Published | 1642 |
"Macht hoch die Tür" (Make high the doors) is a German popular Advent hymn, written in Ducal Prussia in the 17th century. The incipit is the first line, "Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor macht weit (Make high the doors, the gates make wide). The lyrics were written by Georg Weissel in 1623, for the inauguration of the Altroßgärter Kirche in Königsberg. The melody that is now associated with the text appeared first in 1704 in the hymnal by Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen.
"Macht hoch die Tür" appears as number 1 in the current German Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG 1). It is also part of the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob (GL 218), among others. As one of the best-known and most popular Advent songs, it was translated, into English by Catherine Winkworth in 1855 as "Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates", also to Swedish and Norwegian, among others.
The lyrics were written by Georg Weissel in 1623, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Altroßgärter Kirche in Königsberg on the second Sunday in Advent that year, where he was appointed minister the following Sunday. For the service of his appointment as minister the following Sunday, he wrote "Such, wer da will, ein ander Ziel".
"Macht hoch die Tür" appears as number 1 in the current German Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG 1). It is also part of the Catholic hymnal Gotteslob (GL 218), It is published in 62 hymnals.
The lyrics are in five stanzas of eight lines each. The beginning is based on the call to open the gates for the King from Psalm 24, which causes the question for which king.() This passage meant originally the celebration of the entry of the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was early interpreted in the Christian church as referring also to the entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, narrated by Matthew () quoting Zechariah (). Both the psalm and the gospel are recommended readings in the Protestant church in Germany for the first Sunday in Advent.
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