Introduction

Biography

Friedrich was the son of Chris­tian Gott­lieb Reiss­ig­er, a can­tor in Bel­zig.

He learned pi­ano and vio­lin from his fa­ther and re­pre­sent­ed his fa­ther as an or­gan­ist in his youth. At age 13, he went to the Tho­mas­schule in Leip­zig and sang in the Tho­man­er­chor.

Starting in 1830, he stu­died theo­lo­gy in Ber­lin, and mu­sic un­der Sieg­fried Dehn. By 1834, he was a mem­ber of the Ber­lin Sing-Akad­e­mie.

Around 1840, Reiss­ig­er moved to Nor­way and be­came an or­ches­tra con­duct­or in Kris­ti­an­ia (Oslo). At the same time, he worked as an or­gan­ist in a Ca­tho­lic church, and con­duct­ed the Kris­ti­an­ia Mu­sic­al As­so­cia­tion or­ches­tra.