[1][2][3] Georg Adam Struve was born in Magdeburg, slightly more than a year after the outbreak of the war which in 1631 would come close to destroying the city.

[2] He then switched his focus to the Jurisprudence faculty: here he was taught by Dominicus Arumaeus, Peter Theodericus, Erasmus Ungebaur and Ortholph Timann.

[1][3] Having completed his legal studies he concluded his student career with a dissertation entitled "de vindicta privata" (loosely, "on private retribution") and was awarded his "Academic Licence" by a committee chaired by his tutor, Heinrich Hahn.

[1][2] In April 1645, still aged only 25, he accepted a judicial chair (Schöffengerichte) in Halle from Prince August of Saxony (in his capacity as Prince-archbishop of Magdeburg).

Six months later, on the recommendation of the faculty, he was offered and accepted the professorship of jurisprudence at Jena which had become vacant following the recent death of the respected jurist, Gottfried Fibig.

[2][4] For the next forty-five years Struve pursued a twin track career, comprising both academic work at the university and his judicial duties, albeit in proportions that varied over time.

On 12 December 1646 he presented his dissertation "de privatis aedificiis" (loosely, "On private buildings"), which may have been a precondition for confirmation of his professorship.

He quickly attracted large numbers of students to his lectures, generating a certain amount of envy on the part of less gifted colleagues.

[4] Several years later, in 1653, he produced "Syntagmate Juris Feudalis" (Syntagma of feudal law), a sixteen chapter book, and the first of his several major published works.

[1][5] On 23 March 1661, with the agreement of the necessary princes and civic luminaries, Struve took a part-time position as municipal councillor for Braunschweig, still at that stage a relatively autonomous city.

[6][7][8] In 1667, after more than twenty years of teaching at the university, Struve moved with his large and still growing family to Weimar, where he entered into the service of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar.

[4] In April 1672 the early death, from small pox, of the young Duke of Saxe-Altenburg brought the Altenburg branch of the ducal family to an end.

For historical reasons this professorship came with the presidency of the (secular) district court in the city of Jena, a post he retained till 1680.

By the time he died he had been predeceased by three of his five legitimate children and was living with his mistress of long-standing while engaged in a fruitless campaign to try and divorce his wife, from whom he had been increasingly distanced for some years.

Possibly to ensure the avoidance of divided loyalties, he was at the same time appointed President of the Government and Consistory, also taking a position as Director of Taxation.

Although sources differ as to his precise job titles, it is clear that his various administrative responsibilities kept him extremely busy, often to be found at his desk till late into the night.

As a result of his advancing years and changed personal circumstances he was formally excused from the teaching obligations that went with his professorship, although a supportive biographer observed that his "desire to help the young students with his learned discourse and argument remained undimmed".

In highlighting the bride's extreme youth, one commentator points out that after thirty years of destructive warfare, people lived with the heightened probability of early death, whether from unruly armies or – more commonly – from the many contagious illnesses that accompanied them.

[4][11] Georg Adam Struve married secondly, in Dresden on 31 August 1663, Susanna Berlich (1647–1699), thereby confirming his predilection for young wives.