Vitus "Veit" Bach (around 1550 – 8 March 1619, Wechmar) was a German baker and

miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

who, according to

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, founded the

Bach family The Bach family refers to several notable composers of the Baroque music, baroque and Classical period (music), classical periods of music, the best-known of whom was Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). A family genealogy was drawn up by Johann ...

, which became one of the most important families in musical history.

Life and family

Veit's son,

Johannes Bach I Johannes Bach (1550 or 1580 – 1626) was a German piper and carpet weaver. He was the son of Veit Bach, the founder of the Bach family of musicians. He was the great-grandfather of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life Johannes was born in Güntherslebe ...

(ca. 1580–1626), was the grandfather of

Johann Ambrosius Bach Johann Ambrosius Bach (22 February 1645 – ) was a German musician, father to Johann Sebastian Bach. Life Johann Ambrosius Bach was born in Erfurt, Germany, the son of musician Christoph Bach (1613–1661). He was the twin brother of Joha ...

, 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."The Bach Family – Family History"
bach-cantatas.com Evading religious persecution in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

, then under the control of the staunchly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

, Bach, being a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, settled in Wechmar, a village in the German state of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. His descendants continued to live there until Christoph Bach, grandfather of J. S. Bach, moved to

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

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.

References

External links

History of the Bachs

Veit Veit is a personal name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Gustav Veit (1824–1903), German gynecologist and obstetrician, a native of Leobschütz * Johann Veit (1852–1917), German gynecologist *Mario Veit (born 1973), German box ...

Businesspeople from Thuringia German Protestants Date of birth unknown Place of birth unknown 1550s births 1619 deaths 16th-century German businesspeople {{Germany-music-bio-stub

Life and family

See also

References

External links