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Table of Contents

The Bachs of Thuringia—Veit Bach, the ancestor of John Sebastian—His sons and descendants—A breach of promise of marriage—J. Christoph Bach of Arnstadt—His cantata “Es erhob sich ein Streit”—John Michael Bach of Gehren—His character—His compositions—Joh. Christoph Bach of Ohrdruf, and his descendants—The sons of Joh. Sebastian Bach—The clan feeling—A sixteenth century quodlibet.

John Sebastian Bach came of a large family of Thuringian musicians, whose members have been traced back to the first decade of the sixteenth century. The name frequently occurs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries among the inhabitants of Arnstadt, Erfurt, Gräfenrode, Molsdorf, Rockhausen and other villages; and that it has not yet disappeared is shown by the fact that the Erfurt Directory for 1899 contains the addresses of no less than thirteen Bachs.

The Founder of the Family

The subject of this biography considered that the founder of his family was Veit Bach, who had settled at Presburg in Hungary as a baker and miller. Owing to religious persecution, however, he sold what he could of his property, returned to Thuringia with the proceeds, and settled at the village of Wechmar near Gotha. Here he recommenced his trade, and occupied his leisure with the cithara, or cither, even taking it to the mill, where he played it to the rhythmical tapping of the wheels. “He must,” says John Sebastian, “at any rate have learned time in this way.” The date of his birth is unknown. He died 1619 and left two sons, Hans and Johannes. All his descendants, to the number of sixty, were, with only two or three exceptions, musicians. Hans Bach, the great-grandfather of John Sebastian, was a weaver by trade as well as a musician. His father, Veit, sent him to Gotha to study music under a relative, Caspar Bach, the “town piper.” In his capacity of “Spielmann” or “Player” Hans travelled about to different towns in Thuringia to take part in the “town music” with his violin, and as he was also very humorous he became popular, and twice had his portrait painted. He died of the plague in 1626. He seems to have left several children, of whom three were musicians—

 Johann, 1604-1673.

 Christoph, 1613-1661.

 Heinrich, 1615-1692.

The following genealogy will enable the reader to distinguish the various members of this remarkable family. The names of sons only are given, as the daughters do not appear to have distinguished themselves. The list of nearly sixty names is not, however, by any means exhaustive. Spitta gives many more, and there were of course a great number whose names are entirely lost, for a peasant and artisan family is not usually careful to keep its genealogical tables in order.

Genealogy