Veit Bach

Vitus "Veit" Bach (around 1550 Pozsony ? Kingdom of Hungary – 8 March 1619, Wechmar)[1] was a German baker and miller who, according to Johann Sebastian Bach, founded the Bach family, which became one of the most important families in musical history.

The Veit Bach Mill, at Wechmar.

Life and family

Veit's son, Johannes Bach I (ca. 1580–1626), was the grandfather of Johann Ambrosius Bach, J.S. Bach's father, Veit therefore being Johann Sebastian's great-great-grandfather. There are other theories which hold that a different Veit Bach who died before 1578 in Erfurt was the father of Johann(es)/Hans, and was thus Johann Sebastian's great-great-grandfather.[2]

Evading religious persecution in the Kingdom of Hungary, then under the control of the staunchly Roman Catholic Habsburgs, Bach, being a Protestant, settled in Wechmar, a village in the German state of Thuringia. His descendants continued to live there until Christoph Bach, grandfather of J. S. Bach, moved to Erfurt to take up a position as municipal musician or Stadtpfeifer (town piper). Bach's son Johannes Bach studied music with the town's head piper.

See also

References
  1. "Bach, §I: List of the musicians" by Christoph Wolff, Grove Music Online (subscription required) Quote: "Veit Bach (1) (b Pozsony, Pressburg, Kingdom of Hungary, [since1920 Bratislava], c1555; d Wechmar, nr Gotha, 8 March 1619). [...] his son Hans (2) [...] Hans [Johann(es)] Bach (2) (b c1580; d Wechmar, 26 Dec 1626). Son of Veit (1). [...] Christoph Bach (5) (b Wechmar, 19 April 1613; d Arnstadt, 12 Sept 1661). Son of Johann (2) [...] Johann Ambrosius Bach (11) (b Erfurt, 22 Feb 1645; d Eisenach, 20 Feb 1695). Son of Christoph (5) ... and father of Johann Sebastian."
  2. "The Bach Family – Family History", bach-cantatas.com
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