Born in Liegnitz (now in Poland) in 1684, Lehms attended the Gymnasium (high school) in Görlitz and later studied at the University of Leipzig [REF].
After spending some time at the court of Johann Georg, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, at the end of 1710 Lehms gained a position as court librarian and poet in Darmstadt, capital of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, where by 1713 he had been appointed to the Prince's council [REF].