[2] Mauersberger read on Good Friday in the Book of Lamentions (Klagelieder Jeremiae), and realised similarities to the actual situation.

The motet was published by Merseburger Verlag [de], titled Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst.

[4] The text of the motets is compiled from twelve excerpts taken from the Book of Lamentations in the translation by Martin Luther, ignoring its author's sequence.

[3] The prayer "Bringe uns, Herr, wieder zu dir" for a return to God is sung by the high voices only, divided in four parts; the melody is reminiscent of a song or chorale.

In the section "Erneue unsre Tage wie vor alters", the remembrance of rich earlier times is illustrated by the longest melisma in the motet, over six bars.

Mende missed the questions of guilt and repentance that are central to Lamentations, but were omitted in Mauersberger's choice of text.

[7] The Kreuzchor recorded Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst in 1995, conducted by Matthias Jung, followed by the low bells of the Kreuzkirche, and then the Dresdner Requiem [de].

A reviewer noted: "The music to which he set these words is homophonic and, despite the fact that much of the piece is quiet, it’s highly charged.

Indeed, the effect is all the more powerful precisely because there is no raging in it; instead Mauersberger has composed a sorrowful, profoundly felt lament for his city.