"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in German with the title "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott") is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter.

[citation needed] Luther composed the melody, named Ein feste Burg from the text's first line, in meter 87.87.55.56.7 (Zahn No. 7377a).

[6][7] In 1906 Edouard Rœhrich wrote, "The authentic form of this melody differs very much from that which one sings in most Protestant churches and figures in (Giacomo Meyerbeer's) The Huguenots.

The original melody is extremely rhythmic, by the way it bends to all the nuances of the text ..."[8] While 19th-century musicologists disputed Luther's authorship of the music to the hymn, that opinion has been modified by more recent research; it is now the consensus view of musical scholars that Luther did indeed compose the famous tune to go with the words.

Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts getan, wir sind gar bald verloren; es streit' für uns der rechte Mann, den Gott hat selbst erkoren.

The old evil foe Now means deadly woe; Deep guile and great might Are his dread arms in fight; On earth is not his equal.

[10] A mighty fortress is our God, A sword and shield victorious; He breaks the cruel oppressor's rod And wins salvation glorious.

[11] This "imagery of battle" is also present in some translations, such as that of Thomas Carlyle (which begins "A safe stronghold our God is still").

[12] In Germany, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" was historically also used as a patriotic paean, which is why it was regularly sung at nationalistic events such as the Wartburg Festival in 1817.

[13] This patriotic undertone of the hymn emanates from its importance for the Reformation in general, which was regarded by the Protestants not only as a religious but as a national movement delivering Germany from Roman oppression.

[14] Furthermore, the last line of the fourth stanza of the German text, "Das Reich muss uns doch bleiben", which is generally translated into English as "The Kingdom's ours forever", referring to the Kingdom of God, may also be interpreted as meaning the Holy Roman Empire must remain with the Germans.

[15] The hymn had been translated into Swedish already in 1536, presumably by Olaus Petri, with the incipit, "Vår Gud är oss en väldig borg".

[18] The eventful history and reception of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God has been presented interactively in Lutherhaus Eisenach's revamped permanent exhibition since 2022.

Another popular English translation is by Thomas Carlyle and begins "A safe stronghold our God is still".

In more recent years a new translation completed for the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship ("A mighty fortress is our God, a sword and shield victorious") has also gained significant popularity.

[20] He used the hymn as the basis of his chorale cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 written for a celebration of Reformation Day.

[citation needed] Georg Philipp Telemann also made a choral arrangement of this hymn and prominently used an extract of the verses beginning Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts getan in his famous Donnerode.

191; Giacomo Meyerbeer quoted it in his five-act grand opera Les Huguenots (1836); Charles-Valentin Alkan wrote an impromptu on this theme for pedal piano (in E♭ major Op.

69, 1866); and Richard Wagner used it as a "motive" in his "Kaisermarsch" ("Emperor's March"), which was composed to commemorate the return of Kaiser Wilhelm I from the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

[1][3] Two organ settings were written by Max Reger: his chorale fantasia Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott, Op.

More recently it has been used by band composers to great effect in pieces such as Psalm 46 by John Zdechlik and The Holy War by Ray Steadman-Allen.