Abraham Seidel (1600-1664)

Abraham Seidel was born in Neustadt an der Orla, in the German region of Thuringia  in 1600.   In 1621 he enrolled at the University of Leipzig and was awarded his B.A. in 1627.  He trained for the Lutheran ministry and in 1630 was appointed as pastor for Daumitz (modern Daumitsch), a small village some 11km. from Neustadt.  In 1640 he became pastor of Nimritz and Rehmen, a position he held until his death in 1664.  He was also Superintendent of Neustadt.

Seidel married twice, firstly to Barbara Walther in 1631 who died the following year, and then in 1633 to Justina Haberland.  He had 6 children by his second wife, including Abraham (b.1637), Christian (b.1640) and Anna Maria.  Anna Maria married David Stemler junior, who succeeded Seidel as pastor at Nimritz and Rehmen.

Seidel was a keen astronomer and published an account of the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 1643.  From 1642 he also published an important series of annual almanachs (the German term used is “schreibkalender”) containing astronomical and historical information.  Some were published under the pseudonyms “Adelsheim” and “Philomusus”.  The series of almanachs continued to be published even after his death in 1664, and they still bore the name Abraham Seidel until 1681, but it is not clear whether this was simply an acknowledgement of Seidel’s role in establishing the series or, more plausibly, because responsibility transferred to his eldest son (also named Abraham).