Christ ist erstanden

"Christ ist erstanden"
German Easter hymn
Apel Codex, manuscript from c. 1500
English	Christ is risen
Language	German
Published	c. 1160 (1160)
Tune EG 99

"Christ ist erstanden" (Christ is risen) is a German Easter hymn, and is possibly the oldest liturgical German song. It has inspired music by composers such as Ludwig Senfl and Heinrich Schütz (from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries respectively) through to modern composers such as Oskar Gottlieb Blarr and Enjott Schneider, and has appeared in 45 hymnals, including the current German Catholic and Protestant hymnals. Translations and paraphrases include a version by Catherine Winkworth which has appeared in 231 hymnals.

"Christ ist erstanden" is possibly the oldest liturgical song in German. The first stanza was sung around 1100 to venerate the cross. It is mentioned in 1160 in an order of liturgy of the diocese of Salzburg, which is kept as the Codex MII6 at the library of the University of Salzburg; it is a Leise (a form of medieval church song), each verse ending with the word "Kyrieleis" (from the Greek "kyrie eleison", for "Lord have mercy").

The melody is derived from "Victimae paschali laudes", a sequence for Easter, by Wipo of Burgundy. The melody appeared in the Apel Codex, a manuscript from around 1500. From the 14th century, "Victimae paschali laudes" and "Christ ist erstanden" were sung alternatively. From the 15th century, different versions with several stanzas were in print.Martin Luther codified a version in three stanzas in 1529 and 1533 in Klug's hymnal, in which Luther changed the line "So freut sich alles, was da ist" (So everything living is glad), frequently used in older versions, to "So lobn wir den Vater Jesu Christ (So we praise the father of Jesus Christ), with an emphasis on Christology instead of universality. He also wrote his own paraphrase of "Victimae paschali laudes", "Christ lag in Todesbanden", published in 1524. Since then, it has been printed in German-language Protestant hymnals up to Evangelisches Gesangbuch (EG 99). It is also part of the current German-language Catholic hymnal Gotteslob (GL 318, 213 in the 1975 version), without Luther's alteration. The hymn has appeared in 45 hymnals.