Nicolaus Bruhns belonged to a family of organists working in Schleswig-Holstein in the seventeenth century. Born in Schwabstedt, near Husum, in 1665, he was sent by his father to stay with his uncle, Peter Bruhns, in Lübeck where he studied with Buxtehude and acquired skill also as a violinist and gamba player. He spent a period in Copenhagen before winning appointment as organist at the Stadtkirche in Husum where he was persuaded to remain by the award of a higher salary when it seemed possible he might move to Kiel. A versatile musician, he is said to have accompanied himself on the pedals of the organ while playing the violin. His surviving music includes four preludes and fugues.