Education
Born in Nuremberg, he studied law at Altdorf and Strassburg, and subsequently traveled through the Netherlands, England, France and Italy.
Born in Nuremberg, he studied law at Altdorf and Strassburg, and subsequently traveled through the Netherlands, England, France and Italy.
In 1644 jointly with Johann Klaj he founded the order of the Pegnitzschäfer (Pegnitz Shepherds), a literary society, in Nuremberg. His writings in German and Latin fill fifty volumes, and a selection of his poems, which are mostly interesting for their form, can be found in Müller"s Bibliothek deutscher Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts, volunteer ix (Leipzig, 1826). Widmann (Altdorf, 1707) wrote a biography of him.
He was the father of Karl Gottlieb Harsdörffer, (1637–1708).
Fruitbearing Society]
His knowledge of languages earned him the appellation "the learned." As a member of the Fruitbearing Society (Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) he was called der Spielende (the player). He was known by the name Strephon among the members of this order.