Many other events relating to the life-style in Arnstadt, to Johann Sebastian, and the Bach family are significant. Ignoring Geyersbach and his apparently on-going feud with Johann Sebastian, and the young maiden in the choir loft, it was not a peaceful time in Arnstadt. From its founding (704) Arnstadt had always been the center of traffic and trade between the north and the south. But the years between 1690 and 1810 were not the best of times for Arnstadt and its inhabitants. Much of the time Arnstadt was caught in the midst of the Prussian war with all of the war machinery and troops moving through town. During Bach's time there in particular, the town was beseiged a number of times, once with troops from nearby Weimar, another time with Swedish troops and their contingent of Polish troops, and then the Weimar-Saxony war. Many of the natives of the town were forced to serve in some form of the military to aid in the protection of the citizens and the town; fortunately it does not appear that Johann Sebastian was involved.
Bad harvests led to a lack of sufficient food supplies, as well as depressions. Bread, the staple, was seriously affected by bad harvests, particularly between the years 1691-93, 1698-99, 1709-12, etc. Although members of the Bach family were affected by these events, Johann Sebastian himself missed these bad harvest years in Arnstadt, being there between1703 and 1707. However he was certainly in Thüringen during most of these years, but when he was in Arnstadt, he was assured of not only sufficient bread, but also of "flüssiges Brot" (liquid bread, or beer).
The Bachs and Beer:
Despite these above-mentioned woes, the enjoyment of beer was a vital aspect of the life in Arnstadt, a town of ca. 3600 inhabitants. At the time that J.S. was in Arnstadt, there were 130 licensed breweries, actually referred to as "Brauhöfe," with "Braugerechtigkeit" (license to brew beer), even though there were apparently certain, specific, restrictions on some of the licenses, - do we call this "microbrewing galore?"
One such restriction was that a certain license had the restriction to brew no more than 90 "Eimer" (1 Eimer = 72 liters) of beer in one year, and that the owner could ony sell his beer for 14 days, either himself or to another "Wirtshaus" (inn). Another example can be seen with a "Bierprobe" (beer-tastings so to speak). A nobleman in "Riedplatz," where the Bach family often met for their yearly "Familientag" (family meetings), had the opportunity to offer his home-brewed beer for sale during a two-week period. This, however, was permitted only after a serious beer-tasting. The town council would meet at his establishment for a long evening of the sampling of his beer. They checked the clarity, the aroma, the "Blume" (foam), and finally the taste as they sat on long, wooden benches. After an intensive, and extensive session, when they stood up, if their "Lederhosen" (leather pants) stuck to the bench, then the beer was good. As related, by a chronicler of the time, "what a simple, and pleasant quality-control tasting!"
And then there was also a "Bieroper" (Beer Opera) composed in 1705. It was initially assumed that Johann Sebastian had composed this opera," but that is now in serious dispute. In reality it is only a short "ditty" (recently published). Some of text, however, in a loose translation, follows: Meister Schwengel has a good Weizenbier to offer in the Kohlgasse / one can purchase it for six Pfenninge; / Stophel Klingklang has a good "Stadt-Bier" (local beer as opposed to a Weizenbier) for sale for five Pfennige in the Wagnergasse. (Weizenbier had first been brewed in1617 in the "Gasthof Zum Gans," located in the market-place.) As might be expected, the owner of one of the 130 breweries sang in the opera. I wonder if it was "Klingklang?"
Finally in the west "Giebel" (gabel) of the Rathaus
there
was a "Glocke" (bell), appropriately nick-named the "Bierglocke"
(beer bell). Each evening the "Bierglocke" would ring to signal
the end of the evening's drinking, and to get the "Zecher" (patrons
or revellers) out of his "Wirtshaus" (the inn). The bell was also
a signal that the children should be in bed before the evil spirits came.With all of these breweries, we need only to find a "Hopfenmarkt" (hops market), and there, in old Arnstadt was also a "Hopfenmarkt," clearly well attended, and most successful. (See the same Hop statue and well above, behind the "Bach Kirche.")
Besides this market,
there were numerous other markets in town, including a"Holzmarkt"
(wood market-place), "Ledermarkt" (leather market), and at least
five or six others. All of these market-places can only be considered feasible
when we realize that Arnstadt was for many centuries a trade center between
north and south, and these various items were in great demand.Just below the market place, at the "Hotel der Sonne," or "Goldene Sonne" near the "Ried Tor, ein Teil von der Stadtbefestigung" (the Ried gate of the town's fortified walls), the largest and possibly the most significant "Platz" in town. It had long been a market-place for sewing materials in which the natives from the north would come to sell their wares, and for wood in which the natives from the famous "Thüringen Wald" would present their product, and undoubtedly much of the wood needed for the rebuilding of the "Neue Kirche" was obtained here.
extensive musical family throughout the generations, is stated to have
used occasionally as a meeting place for the family, - their "Familientag."
The photo on the left shows the "Ried Tourn" (the gate to the
town), and on the right, a sketch of the "Platz" itself. A Johann
Christoph Bach, obviously not one of Bach's sons, lived there from 1687
until 1693, and a Johann Ernst Bach lived there until 1732. According to
C.P.E. Bach, throughout this total time-span the Bach family met regularly,
at least once a year in either Eisenach, Erfurt, or Arnstadt, and when they
were in Arnstadt they met at the "Goldene Sonne," in Riedplatz.
C.P.E relates a typical Bach family meeting as follows: