Lietuvos istorijos institutas

The biography of Philipp Ruhig the Younger (1675–1749), pastor, Bible translator, and dictionary author, has been preserved only in fragments, with his childhood and early youth in particular remaining shrouded in mystery. The newly discovered Chronicle of the Parish of Kattenau by Hermann Pilzecker, who was pastor in Kattenau from 1924 to 1937, documents details of his family’s precarious living conditions due to the early death of his father, Philipp Ruhig the Elder. Given that Philipp Ruhig, as his later academic work suggests, nevertheless received a very good school education and was ultimately able to complete a university degree, it can be concluded that he had access to a corresponding network, which was presumably also facilitated by family connections. This article therefore traces the genealogical relationships of the paternal line, while the maternal line must be disregarded due to the frequency of the surname Schultz. Based on the facts known to date about Philipp Ruhig’s genealogy, in particular the fact that his great-grandfather George Ruhig was mayor of Liebenwerda in Saxony, he was identified in the historical sources of the town of Liebenwerda and the role of the Ruhig family in the history of this town was investigated. In this context, it was also possible to trace the origin of the surname Ruhig back to (Lower) Sorbian. In addition, traces were sought of the family of Philipp Ruhig’s grandmother, Barbara Siller, whose brother Martin Siller and nephew of the same name were found to have lived in Rostock (Mecklenburg).