Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg on 14th March 1681 and he spent formative years of his childhood in the city.
He received his first teaching in writing, reading, Latin and catechism, before moving to the Old Town School, one of the most important urban Latin schools founded in the course of the Reformation in Germany, at the age of about ten. Before his departure to Zellerfeld, he was a pupil of the cathedral school.
Magdeburg was, behind Berlin, the second largest colony of the Reformed, which made Telemann come into contact with the French language that he spoke perfectly.
In Magdeburg, Telemann's love for music and his affinity for literature are rooted. Telemann, who was autodidact, received important artistic suggestions from the cantor of the Gymnasium Benedictus Christiani and the rector of the Cathedral school, Christian Müller.