Andreas Reyher

Life Provenance and early years Andreas Reyher was born at exactly midday in Heinrichs. Heinrichs was a village which, while Reyher was a growing up, became engulfed in a series of witch trials which would lead to ten village women being killed by burning and one by being beheaded after which her body was burnt anyway. It was located just to the west of Suhl, in the hills between Frankfurt and Leipzig. Michael Reyher (1557-1634), his father, was a successful wine merchant. His mother, born Ottilie Albrecht, was the daughter of the local Schultheiß (chief municipal administrator). She died in 1619 after being seriously ill for the last eleven years of her life. He received a BA degree ("Baccalaureus Artium & Philosophiae") in September 1625 and in January 1627 an MA degree, later that year submitting his work to a disputation and becoming a Master of Philosophy ("Philosophiae Magister").

The name of Andreas Reyher is also associated with the establishment of the first printing business in Gotha, and one of the oldest printing businesses in the whole Thuringia region. He was the publisher of numerous text books and other scholarly volumes, but also the publisher and printer of books written by himself.

Family The Reyher School in Gotha, which opened at the start of the twentieth century, was named in honour of Andreas ReyherOn 6 May 1633 Andreas Reyher married Katharina Abesser (1612–1657), the daughter of Sebastian Abesser the Superintendent (ecclesiastical administrator) in Suhl. The marriage resulted in twelve recorded children of whom seven reached adulthood.

Following the death of his first wife, on 18 January 1659 Andreas Reyher married Anna Blandine Bachoff (1636–1670). Her father, Friedrich Bachoff, worked in Gotha's public administration (als "Ministraturkollektor"). This marriage resulted in a further three recorded sons and three recorded daughters. However, four of these, including all three daughters, predeceased their father.

Celebration In 1904 Gotha's prestigious new Reyherschule ("Reyher School") opened, named in honour of Andreas Reyher. Reyherstrasse ("Reyher Street"), which runs along the north side of the school grounds, was named after him at the same time.