[10] Along with the Latinized version of his name, Ludwig Günther-Fürstenwalde (1903) also reports Hevelius's signature as Johannes Höffelius Dantiscanus in 1631 and Hans Höwelcke in 1639.

After gymnasium (secondary school), where he was taught by Peter Crüger, Hevelius in 1630 studied jurisprudence at Leiden, then travelled in England and France, meeting Pierre Gassendi, Marin Mersenne and Athanasius Kircher.

In 1634 he settled in his native town, and on 21 March 1635 married Katharine Rebeschke, a neighbour two years younger who owned two adjacent houses.

[citation needed] Throughout his life, Hevelius took a leading part in municipal administration, becoming town councillor in 1651; but from 1639 on, his chief interest was astronomy.

In 1641 he built an observatory on the roofs of his three connected houses, equipping it with splendid instruments, ultimately including a large Keplerian telescope of 46 m (150 ft) focal length,[1] with a wood and wire tube he constructed himself.

[22] The Polish King John III Sobieski who regularly visited Hevelius numerous times in years 1677–1683 released him from paying taxes connected to brewing and allowed his beer to be sold freely outside the city limits.

[25] Hevelius considered himself as being citizen of the Polish world (civis Orbis Poloniae)[26] and stated in a letter dated from 9 January 1681 that he was Civis orbis Poloni, qui in honorem patriae suae rei Literariae bono tot labores molestiasque, absit gloria, cum maximo facultatum suarum dispendio perduravit, i.e. "citizen of Polish world who, for glory of his country and for the good of science, worked so much, and while not boasting much, executed his work with most effort per his abilities".

A complex halo phenomenon was observed by many in the city on 20 February 1661, and was described by Hevelius in his Mercurius in Sole visus Gedani the following year.

Katharine, his first wife, died in 1662, and a year later Hevelius married Elisabeth Koopmann, the young daughter of a merchant family.