Eisenach
1685-1695
This
picture shows Eisenach (Thuringia),
the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach, with the
famous Wartburg on top of the mountain (Luther translated the New Testament
into German here). Bach visited the same Eisenacher G 18218y2423s eorgenschule as Luther did
about 190 years before. Johan Sebastian's father, Johann
Ambrosius Bach (1645-1695), twin brother of Johann Christoph, lived here
since 1671 as string player, town piper and court trumpeter, that is as a
higher ranking city musician. In 1668, he married Elisabeth Lämmerhirt
(1644-1694) from Erfurt,
who also grew up in a musical family. Johann Sebastian was born as their eight child on 21
March 1685. His two godfathers, who gave their name to the child,
were Sebastian Nagel, town piper of Gotha, and
Johann Georg Koch, a ducal forrester in Eisenach.
Johann Sebastian was baptized in the Georgenkirche
(St. George's
church). The baptismal
entry is dated 23 March
1685. The official Bachhaus
at Frauenplan 21, now a museum, is no longer believed to be Johann Sebastian's
birthplace. A more likely candidate is a place at Lutherstrasse,
where most of the house from Bach's time disappeared.
The Bach family was one of several traditional families of musicians, who
were often organized along guilde lines and who earned their living as town
musicians, organists, and cantors. The family had produced musicians for
several generations. Some of them, in particular Johann Ambrosius's cousins Johann Michael and Johann
Christoph (the family had somewhat monotonous naming habits), had become
composers of fame.
Johann Sebastian's mother died in 1694 and his father in 1695, so, as a 9
year old child he lost both parents in one year. Of the five surviving
children, Johann Sebastian and his brother Johann Jacob went to live with their
eldest brother, another Johann Christoph, who was organist in Ohrdruf.
