 Gustav Theodor Fechner was born on April 19, 1801, in the then Saxon village of Großsärchen. His father, Samuel Traugott Fischer (1765–1806), and indeed grandfather, were pastors in the village; and his mother, Dorothea Fechner (1744–1806), was also from a pastoral family. This religious background had a profound effect on Fechner, who would attempt to rationalize it in his philosophy. 