Background
Rath was born in Klein-Wülknitz, Anhalt, and came from an old noble family.
Rath was born in Klein-Wülknitz, Anhalt, and came from an old noble family.
His name, in the dative case (after "von"), may be rendered as "Rathen". But he eventually left academia for a career in the military, the high point of which was Rath’s appointment as the kriegskommissar, the officer appointed to handle financial matters under Prince Ludwig I of Anhalt-Köthen In the service of Ludwig I throughout the Thirty Years" War until his death, he was appointed commander of the cavalry (January 10, 1627).
In recognition of his military professionalism, Ludwig called him “rough” and “tough” when admitting him to the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, a society dedicated to the standardization of German.
He was known for his battle cry, an earlier and more poetic version of “When things get tough, the tough get going":
Wan das rauhe ist dahin
So die iugent mit sich bringet:
Endert sich der gantze sinn,
Und dan nach dem himmel ringet. Rath was killed by war-time marauders near Wieskau, Anhalt-Köthen