Adam Valentine Volkmar was born on March 6, 1770, he was the son of a pewterer in the Thuringian town of Schmalkalden. The area of Schmalkalden was then, like the county Schaumburg, a far away country, belonging to Hesse-Kassel exclave. Because of his father's profession of pewterer he was often associated with the organ builder, is fair to assume that Volckmar was already familiar with instruments as a child.