Porst, Johann

Porst, Johann a Lutheran minister, was born Dec. 11, 1668, at Oberkotzau, not far from Hof. In 1689 he went to Leipsic for the study of theology. In 1695 he was appointed pastor at Malchow, near Berlin; in 1704 he was called to Berlin as preacher at Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt; in 1709 he was made court preacher, and in 1712 provost of St. Nicolai, pastor primarius, and inspector. He died Jan. 9, 1728, having occupied since 1717 the position as counselor of consistory. Of his many writings, none is so well known as is hymn-book, published in 1713, and which is still in use in some churches at Berlin. See Jocher, Gelehrten Lexikon, s.v.; Winer, Handbuch der theolog. Literatur, p. 113 and index; Koch, Gesch. des deutschen Kirchenliedes, 4, 297 sq.; Kurtz, Lehrbuch der Kirchengesch. (7th ed.) § 166, 2; Staudt, In gottliche Führung (Stuttg. 1850); Bachmann, Zür Geschichte der Berliner Gesangbicher (Berl. 1856); id. Die Gesangbicher Berlin's (ibid. 1857). (B. P.)