בּױגעזאנג | Baugesang (Building Song): a German adaptation of the piyyuṭ Adir Hu attested by Paul Christian Kirchner in his Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Nuremberg, 1717)

Contributor(s):

Shared on:

12 March 2026 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Nirtsah

Tags:

18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., אדיר הוא Adir Hu, Christian Hebraism, German vernacular prayer, haggadah supplements, פיוטים piyyuṭim, Temple restoration, זמירות zemirot

Born into Judaism, Paul Christian Kirchner was baptized a Christian in 1713. In 1717, he first published the work Jüdisches Ceremoniel (or “Jewish Ceremony”), for which he is most well known — a firsthand recollection (and, to be honest, criticism) of Jewish practices throughout the year and life cycle. While the work is written by an apostate for a Christian audience, and thus it is certainly not an unbiased source — and it had been almost a decade since he left the community so some of his memories are a bit muddled — it is still a fascinating work if only for its depiction of Jewish practices otherwise forgotten. In this portion of Kirchner’s description of the Seder night, he translates three songs — Adir Hu, Eḥad Mi Yodea, and Ḥad Gadya — still sung in Jewish communities the world over to this day! This is Adir Hu in a German adaptation known as the “Baugesang,” more well known in its standardized form found in the 1769 Selig Haggadah.

Note: For clarity, we have replaced the use of the Solidus (a/k/a “forward slash”) as found in the Fraktur script of the printed work, with its equivalent — the comma.

Source translation (German)	Translation (Modern German)	Translation (English)	Abridged Source (Hebrew)
Die Ceremonien, welche gebraucht werden bey den zwey Oster-Nächten mit grosser Andacht gebetten und vollbracht , und lauten also auß ihrem Kabala:	Die Zeremonien, welche gebraucht werden bei den zwei Osternächten mit großer Andacht gebeten und vollbracht, und lauten also aus ihrem Kabbala:	The ceremonies required during the two paschal^[1] Literally: “Easter.” Uncommon in modern German usage, at the time both Passover and Easter were referred to as such. This is still the case in many languages — see Greek Πάσχα των Ιουδαίων, French Pâque juive, Finnish juutalainen pääsiäinen, and Spanish pascua de los judíos. Note, though, that in all three of those languages, the word for Easter derives from the Hebrew פֶּסַח via Aramaic, which is not the case in German — or in English. nights, which are solemnly prayed and performed, are as follows from their Kabbalah:
Allmächtiger Gott, nun bau dein Tempel Schyro also in Schier und alsobald in unseren Tagen Schyro ja Schiro.	Allmächtiger Gott, nun bau’ dein Tempel schiere, also in schier und also bald, in unseren Tagen schiere, ja schiere!	Almighty God, now build Your Temple soon, both soon and also quick, in our days, soon, yeah, soon!	אַדִּיר הוּא יִבְנֶה בֵּיתוֹ בְּקָרוֹב בִּמְהֵרָה, בִּמְהֵרָה, בְּיָמֵינוּ בְּקָרוֹב (אֵל בְּנֵה בֵּיתְךָ) בְּקָרוֹב׃
Barmhaffter GOtt, grosser GOtt, demühtiger GOtt, hoher GOtt, feiner GOtt, Süsser und demühtiger GOtt, Jüdischer GOtt, nun bau dein Tempel Schyro also Schier und alsobald, und baue dein Tempel Schiro.	Barmherziger Gott, großer Gott, demütiger Gott, hoher Gott, feiner Gott, süßer und demütiger Gott, jüdischer Gott, nun bau’ dein Tempel schiere also schier und also bald, und bau’ dein Tempel schiere!	Merciful God, great God, humble God, high God, nice God, sweet and humble God, Jewish God, now build Your Temple soon, both soon and also quick, and build Your Temple soon!	בָּחוּר הוּא גָּדוֹל הוּא דָּגוּל הוּא הָדוּר הוּא וָתִיק הוּא זַכַּאי הוּא חָסִיד הוּא… יָחִיד הוּא יִבְנֶה בֵּיתוֹ בְּקָרוֹב בִּמְהֵרָה, בִּמְהֵרָה, אֵל בְּנֵה בֵּיתְךָ בְּקָרוֹב׃
Kräfftiger lebendiger mächtiger Namhaffter ewiger forchtsammer reicher Königlicher waherer schöner GOtt, nun bau dein Tempel Schyro also schier und alsobald in unseren Tägen^[2] Probably a typo for Tagen Schiro. Nun baue dein Tempel Schiro.	Kräftiger lebendiger mächtiger namhafter ewiger furchtsamer reicher königlicher wahrer schöner Gott, nun bau’ dein Tempel schiere also und also bald, in unseren Tagen schiere, nun bau’ dein Tempel schiere!	Strong, living, mighty, renowned, eternal, awesome, sovereign, royal, true, beautiful God, now build Your Temple soon, both soon and also quick, in our days, soon, and build Your Temple soon!	כַּבִּיר הוּא לָמוּד הוּא מֶלֶךְ הוּא נָאוֹר הוּא…עִזּוּז הוּא פּוֹדֶה הוּא… קָדוֹשׁ הוּא רַחוּם הוּא צַדִּיק הוּא^[3] The divine attribute/epithet corresponding to “wahrer” (true) in the original Hebrew is unclear and my associating it with “tsaddiq” is speculative given the deviation from the original alphabetic acrostic. As “tahor” (pure) was skipped earlier in the acrostic, perhaps that is the correct corresponding attribute. –Ahaon Varady שַׁדַּי הוּא… יִבְנֶה בֵּיתוֹ בְּקָרוֹב בִּמְהֵרָה, בִּמְהֵרָה, בְּיָמֵינוּ בְּקָרוֹב. אֵל בְּנֵה בֵּיתְךָ בְּקָרוֹב׃

This is the early piyyut “Adir Hu” in a German variant of its Western Yiddish adaptation “Baugensang” as attested by Paul Christian Kirchner in his Jüdisches Ceremoniel (1717), p. 127. For comparison, I have added the text of Adir Hu as it would correspond to this variant of the Baugesang. The alphabetic acrostic of the original piyyut is abridged in this translation. As the acrostic is broken in several places, it is unclear whether this variant itself is abbreviated or whether the translation is abridged. All elisions in the Baugesang are indicated with elipses in the Hebrew text of Adir Hu. –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Paul Christian Kirchner, 1717), p. 127

Notes

Notes
1	Literally: “Easter.” Uncommon in modern German usage, at the time both Passover and Easter were referred to as such. This is still the case in many languages — see Greek Πάσχα των Ιουδαίων, French Pâque juive, Finnish juutalainen pääsiäinen, and Spanish pascua de los judíos. Note, though, that in all three of those languages, the word for Easter derives from the Hebrew פֶּסַח via Aramaic, which is not the case in German — or in English.
2	Probably a typo for Tagen
3	The divine attribute/epithet corresponding to “wahrer” (true) in the original Hebrew is unclear and my associating it with “tsaddiq” is speculative given the deviation from the original alphabetic acrostic. As “tahor” (pure) was skipped earlier in the acrostic, perhaps that is the correct corresponding attribute. –Ahaon Varady

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also translates and authors his own original works.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

From a family of musicians, Isaac Gantwerk Mayer believes that creative art is one of the most powerful ways to get in touch with the divine. He composes music and poetry in Hebrew and English. (He also authors his own original works and transcribes Hebrew and Aramaic text, adding niqqud and t'amim as needed.) Isaac runs a Jewish music transcription service, which will transcribe and set any Jewish music in any language, recorded or written. Contact his service on Facebook or via his music blog.

Paul Christian Kirchner (translation)

Paul Christian Kirchner (born Gumpel ben Mordechai; ca. 1675-?), born in Krotszyn, Poland was an educated Jewish convert to Christianity. From a rabbinic family, he claimed to have been a rabbi for about eight years before his conversion. He was baptized in November 1713 in the Lutheran church in Bischleben in the presence of eleven godparents from the upper classes of Dutchy of Gotha and the city of Erfurt, indicating the prestigiousness of the event. Kircher then moved to Jena where he matriculated at the Lutheran university. He had hoped to earn a living as lecturer in Hebrew and was given a letter of recommendation for the University of Jena but he was unable to gain a permanent foothold in academia. The search for employment took him across Europe, from Königsberg to Basel. The work took a critical stance on Judaism but which was later republished by Sebastian Jugendres with more neutral text. It is generally assumed, although not proven, that he returned to Judaism. At least fifteen editions of his Jüdisches Ceremoniel were printed between 1716 and 1737. (From the article by Maria Diemling in the Journal of Early Modern Christianity 2025; 12(1), pp. 77-78.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=66553

Associated Image:

Hurva Synagogue – unbuilt (Louis Kahn, 1967-1974)

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute the work to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Paul Christian Kirchner (translation) and Unknown.
Clearly indicate the date you accessed the work and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this resource: <https://opensiddur.org/?p=66553>.
Indicate that the original work was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this work in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the license under which the work is shared.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed in this work represent the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)