Johannes Petzold

Johannes Petzold (24 October 1912 – 19 May 1985) was a German church musician, composer of several hymnal songs and docent at the Thuringian Church Music School. Life Born in Plauen, Vogtland, Petzold, son of a pattern draughtsman in the lace and curtain industry of his home town, studied education in Leipzig 1932–1935, majoring in music. One month after his matriculation he became a member of the “New Saxon Teachers’ Association” (30 May 1932). As a result of the Gleichschaltung of the teachers’ associations, he belonged to the Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund from the On 7 July 1933, he joined the Sturmabteilung. After graduating, he worked as an primary school teacher in small villages in the Vogtland and Ore Mountains regions. As a “young teacher” he became a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party with effect from 1 May 1937. (membership number 5,816,055, dated 15 June 1938). Already at the beginning of his studies, he came into contact with the and took part in singing weeks with Alfred Stier and Hugo Distler. His lifelong friendship and collaboration with began in autumn 1932 with a joint choir tour through Saxony. Petzold’s early compositions and texts were