Daniel Speer (1636-1707) was the son of a furrier, but lost his parents at an early age and grew up in an orphanage in Breslau (now Wroclav in modern-day Poland). He fled the orphanage and began a long period of wandering through eastern Europe, including Slovakia, Hungary and Rumania. He seems to have served for a while as a military trumpet player and timpanist.
It is not known what brought him to southern Germany, but certain is that he began work in 1667 as a church musician in Göppingen, where he also taught school. It is possible that he had been active as early as 1664 in Stuttgart and Tübingen.
His more secure existence in Göppingen allowed him then to develop his literary interests. In this, the most productive period of his life, he wrote various compositions, adventure novels and other literary publications. His patriotic appeals against the French occupation led to his imprisonment in 1689. After his release he dedicated himself exclusively to composition until his death at age 71 in Göppingen.
