Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt

Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt (24 February 1644, Erfurt – 1 May 1694, Eisenach) was the mother of Johann Sebastian Bach.

She was a daughter of Valentin Lämmerhirt (or Lemmerhirt, 1605–1665), a furrier and coachman in Erfurt. On 8 April 1668, she married her friend since childhood, Johann Ambrosius Bach. The couple left Erfurt in 1671 and settled in Eisenach, where in 1685 their eighth son, Johann Sebastian Bach, was born.

Her half-sister Martha Dorothea was the mother of composer and lexicographer Johann Gottfried Walther, who became a friend of Johann Sebastian.^[1]

References

1. Emery, Walther & Wolff, Christoph (2001). "Bach. III. 7. Johann Sebastian Bach. 1. Childhood". In Sadie, Stanley & Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎

Further reading

• Wiegand, Fritz (1967). Alfred Dürr (ed.). "Die mütterlichen Verwandten Johann Sebastian Bachs in Erfurt". Bach-Jahrbuch (in German). 53. Leipzig: Neue Bachgesellschaft: 5–20. doi:10.13141/bjb.v19672460.