Carl Boberg The Story of How Great Thou Art

Monument in the library park, Mönsterås Carl Boberg, 1859-1940 The family grave of Carl Boberg, old cemetary, Mönsterås

wonder at what he saw. The inlet near published by members of the Ameri- A hymn travels around the world... his cottage lay like a mirror and from can Bible Society in New York. the woodlands he heard the melan- Glimpses from the history of How Great Thou Art choly song of a blackbird. In the far It was later used in Ukraine by the distance the church bells were tolling English missionary Stuart K Hine, who for one parishioner who had been bu- translated three verses into English. How Great Thou Art is one of the some 200 were set to music. In his la- ried that day. The sun broke through At outbreak of World War II, Hine re- most popular hymns ever written. All ter years, he was elected a member of the clouds and the rainbow appeared. turned to England where, in 1948, he over the world people join together the Swedish Upper House, where his translated the fourth verse. By that whenever it is being sung. It has radical opinions on drinking, pacifism Moved by the beauty of nature, his time the hymn was being used by mis- been recorded by many singers, yet and church matters made him a con- poetic inspiration flowed and later sionaries all over the world. very few people have ever heard of troversial figure. on that afternoon, he had written the

Carl Boberg, the man who wrote the poem, which we today know as How Recorded by Elvis Presley hymn. How the hymn came to be Great Thou Art.

In 1954, Dr Billy Graham heard the Carl Boberg was born on August 16 As a young preacher Carl Boberg had hymn and was so impressed that he 1859, in the tiny township of Möns- A hymn widely spread to visit nearby villages and it was after decided to make it his signature tune. terås in southeast of Sweden. He was one of those meetings that he wrote How Great Thou Art was first publis- He first introduced it during a crusade a restless man who tried many profes- his famous hymn. It was a hot, sul- hed in the local newspaper on March at Toronto, Canada in 1955. sions. He was a great orator, and for try summer day in 1885. On his way 13 1886, and in 1894 it was included many years he was a preacher in the home from a meeting, a violent storm in the hymnbook of the Swedish Non- Singers like Mahalia Jackson, Elvis local Nonconformist Church. broke, lightning flashed and strong Presley, Staple Singers and Gladys conformist Church. He did not write winds swept across the fields. Within Knight have also helped to make it In his youth he had worked as a se- any music to his poem but suggested an hour the storm was over and the one of the most widely spread and aman, and later on as a woodwork that the melody of an old Swedish wind had died away. folk song should be used. beloved hymns ever written. teacher. He was also the editor of the town’s only newspaper and in his From an article in the Australian magazi- When he arrived home he opened In 1907, it was translated into Ger- spare time he wrote poetry, of which his window and filled with awesome ne The Musician (July 2 1983). Written by man, and fifteen years later it was its reporter John Walde.

Monument and museum Unfortunately, its author was never to experience the worldwide popu- larity of his hymn. Carl Boberg died on January 7, 1940, aged 81. A me- morial executed by the local artist Hugo Lundgren was unveiled in 1977. In 2013, the Museum of How Great Thou Art opened in the new public li- brary in Mönsterås. More information Information about the Museum of How Great Thou Art and the exhibition can be given by Mönsterås public library, phone number +46 0499-172 05 and the president of the How Great Thou Art society, Ulf Eriksson, phone number +46 0499-135 26.

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