The reformer Martin Luther wrote the text as part of a longer poem of praise, not intended to be sung.

[1] The long poem appeared as a preface of a 1538 publication by Johann Walter, Lob vnd preis der loblichen Kunst Musica, praising the art of music.

[1] The four stanzas were assigned a melody of the Bohemian Brethren, adapted to a more modern form by Karl Lütge in 1917, commemorating 400 years after the Reformation.

[4] In 2017, remembering 500 years of the Reformation, the song was the title of a night of broadcasting by the Deutschlandfunk, focused on Luther's hymns and music derived of them.

"Die beste Zeit im Jahr ist mein" was heard in settings by Ernst Pepping and Arnold Mendelssohn.