It must have become popular, in the manner of a folk-song, because it was recorded in 1839 by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben in the district of Glaz in Silesia.
With Ernst Friedrich Richter, Hoffmann von Fallersleben edited a collection of Silesian folk-songs, Schlesische Volkslieder, in which the hymn appeared with its matching tune.
[3] The most famous English arrangement of the hymn titled "Beautiful Savior" was composed by F. Melius Christiansen in 1919 and serves as the flagship choral anthem of The St. Olaf Choir to this day.
The tune, originally a Silesian folk song, and the German text were printed together for the first time in 1842 by Hoffmann von Fallersleben and Richter under the name Schönster Herr Jesu (Most beautiful Lord Jesus).
[4][5] In 1850 the Danish hymnwriter B. S. Ingemann wrote Dejlig er jorden, which he set to the same melody.