Christopher Theodor Gottlieb Lemm was born in 1786 in the town of Chemnitz in Saxony.

His parents were poor musicians.

His father played the French horn, his mother the harp; he himself was practising on three different instruments by the time he was five.

At eight years old he was left an orphan, and from his tenth year he began to earn his bread by his art.

He led a wandering life for many years, and performed everywhere in restaurants, at fairs, at peasants' weddings, and at balls.