Bach, J. S.

: Eisenach (1685-1695)

Page 1 of 3

Site 1996 Timothy A. Smith

Eisenach (1685-1795)
Bach's World Education & Career Next

Eisenach: Johann Sebastian's birthplace

z
z
z
z
z

Protestant curriculum
upper grades
early musical training
an orphan
links

Ambrosius Bach and his twin, Johann Christoph, went their separate ways in 1671, the
latter to Arnstadt and the former to become town musician in Eisenach. Here, 14 years
later, would be born the youngest son of Ambrosius and Maria Elisabetha Lmmerhirt. A
gifted child, Johann Sebastian would influence the art of music as no one before nor
since. Awaiting Ambrosius, in Eisenach, was another Johann Christoph (first cousin of
the twins), organist for the Duke of Eisenach, and one whom the family would later call
"that great and expressive composer." Cousin Christoph had exercised no small influence
to see Ambrosius in Eisenach; it is likely that in time he extended that influence to the
musical education of Sebastian.
Protestant Curriculum
Johann Sebastian attended Eisenach's Lateinschule, the same institute where Martin
Luther had studied two centuries earlier. In accord with Luther's wish that even the
commoner might learn to read and write, so that every Christian might study Scripture
for himself, the main subjects taught in the Lateinschule were religion and grammar with
secondary emphases in history and arithmetic.
The core of the Protestant curriculum throughout eighteenth-century Germany was the
1610 Hutter Compendium, 203 pages of fine print outlining Lutheran belief and practice.
Students were required to memorize the Compendium in order to graduate. When
Sebastian was examined by Leipzig officials in 1723 he would prove that he knew the
Compendium well. It was, furthermore, the practice of the upper grades to engage in
monthly debate patterned after the plan of the Compendium itself. One party would state
a theological proposition to which the party of the second would object. It was incumbent
then upon the first party to refute the objection and to demonstrate the veracity of the
proposition by appealing to Scripture.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/eisenach.html

22/7/2008

Bach, J. S.: Eisenach (1685-1695)

Page 2 of 3

Upper Grades
To the upper grades were added the study of logic, philosophy, and rhetoric, plus the
classical languages including Greek and Hebrew. We know, for example, that by the age
of 10 Johann Sebastian was reading the Gospels in Latin. Promotion was contingent upon
mastery of content, not age. Sebastian's exemplary performance is attested by his 1694
ranking ahead of his brother, Johann Jacob, who was three years his superior.
Early Musical Training
Because the Bachs seldom consigned to others the musical training of their children, it is
likely that Sebastian's first music lessons were taken from his father, Ambrosius. It is also
possible, at this time, that young Sebastian may have studied keyboard with his second
cousin, Johann Christoph, although Forkel states that Sebastian did not begin keyboard
until after he had moved to Lneburg.
An Orphan
Saxony, at the close of the 17th century,was a place where death visited often. Sebastian
was born four decades after the Thirty Years' War, a tumultous period during which the
population of the Holy Roman Empire had declined from sixteen million to fewer than
six million, that is, a decline of 62 percent! When Sebastian was six he lost his elder
brother, Johann Balthasar. In 1693-94 Ambrosius endured first the death of his twin,
Johann Christoph, then his wife, Elisabetha. Utterly despondent, Ambrosius himself
expired within ten months and Sebastian was left an orphan.
Links:
Hanford & Koster Eisenach

Bach's World Education & Career Next

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/eisenach.html

22/7/2008

Bach, J. S.: Eisenach (1685-1695)

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/eisenach.html

Page 3 of 3

22/7/2008