by Aaron Jensen
Jacob Heerbrand was born on August 12, 1521 at Geingen in Swabia to Andreas and Barbara Heerbrand. Andreas, a weaver by trade, was also very academically minded, pursuing math and Latin especially. Andreas had also been very interested in music in his younger years, but later came to regret the amount of time he spent on something which was only secondary instead of focusing on more important matters. He did what he could to keep his son away from music to prevent him from making the same mistake. Setting aside music, and also math and Latin, he concentrated himself instead on theology, reading Luther diligently. He took care in raising Jacob to cultivate within him an eagerness for both knowledge and hard work. Already as a young boy Jacob would come home from church with questions for his father about the content of the sermons.
