Vater unser im Himmelreich

Ahle was born in Mühlhausen, Thuringia.

While not much is known of his early musical training, he attended the grammar school in Göttingen and then studied theology at the University of Erfurt from 1645 to 1649.

In 1646 he became cantor at the Andreaskirche [de] in Erfurt In 1648 he published the Compendium per tenellis, a theoretical treatise on choral singing which was reprinted several times during his lifetime and for a last time 50 years later by his son Johann Georg (the last edition appeared in 1704).

In 1654 Ahle assumed the post of organist at the Divi Blasii in Mühlhausen. The next year he married Anna Maria Wölfer; their son, Johann Georg Ahle (1651–1706), was also a well-known composer and organist.

Ahle was elected a town councillor in Mühlhausen in the 1650s, and was elected mayor shortly before his death in 1673.

His immediate successor at the church was his son Johann Georg, and then briefly Johann Sebastian Bach, who worked in Mühlhausen in 1707/08.

Much of Ahle's compositional output consists of sacred choral and vocal works, instrumental music, and organ music.