David Stemler was born in Neustadt an der Orla in 1594. He trained as a Lutheran pastor and eventually became archdeacon of Neustadt. In 1623 he married Catharina Schuckel, for which occasion Jacobus Everhard composed some poems. He died in 1659 at Neustadt. His descendants include a number of theologians and scholars, including the theologian and moral philosopher Johan Paul Hebenstreit and the theologian Johann Christian Stemler.
