Johann Christoph Arnschwanger was born in Nuremberg on December 28, 1625, the son of Georg Arnschwanger, a local merchant. He studied at the University of Altdorf starting in 1644 and at the University of Jena in 1647, earning his Master of Arts degree in August 1647. After short stays in Leipzig, Hamburg, and Helmstedt, he returned to his native city in 1650.
In Nuremberg, Arnschwanger built a long career in pastoral ministry. He served as city vicar in 1651, diaconus at St. Aegidien in 1652, morning preacher at St. Walpurga in 1654, and diaconus at St. Lorenz in 1659. He was appointed Senior at St. Lorenz in 1670 and Archidiaconus in 1690. He died in Nuremberg on December 10, 1696.
Arnschwanger was a lover of music and poetry, joining the Fruitbearing Society in 1675 and maintaining correspondence with prominent literary figures such as Anton Ulrich. Unlike many contemporaries associated with the Nuremberg Pegnitz Shepherd Order, he favored simplicity and practical spiritual utility over elaborate academic style. He published roughly 400 hymns, key collections being Neue geistliche Lieder (1659) and Heilige Palmen und Christliche Psalmen (1680). His Easter hymn "Auf, ihr Christen, lasst uns singen" achieved wide usage and was translated into English.
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