Konrad or Conrad Heresbach was born at Manor Herzbach near Mettmann as the youngest of seven children to the wealthy holder of the Herzbach estate. In 1503, he left Mettmann to attend the Latinecclesiastical school at the BenedictineMonastery at Werden. Here he became acquainted with the Latin language through reciting the biblical Psalms. Two years later he was schooled at the Latin school in Hamm, which provided children from the wealthy Rhenish–Markianbourgeois with an education. From 1510 onwards, he attended the cathedral school at Münster, and from 1512 the University of Cologne of liberal arts. Here he read Ancient Greek and Hebrew—graduating with the degree of magister artium. Thereafter, he pursued a degree in law in 1517.
Through Erasmus he gained a position as an educator with the dukes of Cleves at Wesel. He died at Manor Lorward near Wesel.
Legacy
His educational teachings considerably influenced the philologistKonrad Duden, whose work was decisive for the standardization of the German Orthography.
Jean‑Claude Margolin. Un humaniste réformiste rhénan—Conrad Heresbach. In Jean Boisset (ed.). Réforme et humanisme. Actes du IVe colloque, Impr. de Recherche, Montpellier 1977, pp. 113–148.