Spiess was a native of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and born February 3, 1810, in Lauterbach, a small town on the northeastern slope of the Vogelsberg. His father, Johann Balthasar Spiess (1782-1841), himself the son of a Thuringian farmer and master smith, had first prepared himself for a position as teacher in the elementary schools, but after some years of professional experience at Frankfort-on-the-Main decided upon further study, and so completed a course in theology at the University of Giessen, and immediately after passing his examination, in 1807, became teacher and sub-rector at the Latin school in Lauterbach. Thither he soon brought as bride Luise Werner, of Saarbrücken, first met in Frankfurt, and Adolf was the oldest of their five children. In 1811 the father accepted a pastoral position in the Evangelical Lutheran church at Offenbach, across the Main from Frankfurt, and in addition to his clerical duties opened a private school which prepared for the upper classes of the _Gymnasium_ (higher classical school) or for a mercantile career. Ten years before this he had observed the methods in use at Schnepfenthal, and made the acquaintance of GutsMuths and other teachers there, renewed by frequent later visits. It was therefore natural that one feature of the daily program should be gymnastics, as described and practised by GutsMuths—walking the balance beam, jumping, running, climbing, throwing, skating, swimming, etc., and games of all sorts. Every week throughout the year there were also excursions with teachers, and dancing lessons were given in the winter months. [Illustration: FIG. 21.—Adolf Spiess (1810-1858).] Adolf entered this school at the age of six or less. A few years later, in 1819, Fritz Hessemer, just back from the University of Giessen, made the pupils acquainted with the new Jahn gymnastics, and parallel bars and a horizontal bar were now added to the equipment. In 1824 some of the boys organized a little society for the purpose of practising gymnastics regularly outside of school hours. They met in the private garden _Turnplatz_ of Hofrath A. André, using Jahn’s “Deutsche Turnkunst” as a guide and inspiration, and soon afterwards entered into friendly relations with other turners in Hanau, a few miles to the east, with whom joint excursions on foot to the Taunus Range were made in 1826 and the following year.