KLAJ, JOHANN

( (German), ) born 1616, Meissen, Saxony died Feb. 16, 1656, Kitzingen, near Wrzburg, Franconia Latin Johannes Clajus German poet who helped make mid-17th-century Nrnberg a centre of German literature. Klaj studied theology at the University of Wittenberg and then went to Nrnberg, where, with Georg Philipp Harsdrfer, he founded in 1644 the literary society known as the Pegnitz order. He taught at Nrnberg, and in 1650 he went as teacher and preacher to Kitzingen. He specialized in pastoral poetry, often using ingenious sound effects, and wrote, with Harsdrfer, the Pegnesisches Schfergedicht (1644; Pegnitz's Idyll) and the Fortsetzung der Pegnitzschferey (1645; The Pursuit of Pegnitz's Meadows). He also specialized in religious oratorios and mystery plays, such as Die Auferstehung Jesu Christi (1644; The Resurrection of Jesus Christ), Freudengedicht auf die Geburt Christi (1645; Joyful Verses on the Birth of Christ), Trauerspiel vom leidenden Christus (1645; The Tragedy of the Sorrows of Christ), and Herodes (1645).