A middle-aged, "philosophically inclined", and penniless German immigrant in New York City who had been a noted professor in Berlin. Also known as Fritz, he initially lives in Mrs. Kirke's boarding house and works as a language master. He and Jo become friends, and he critiques her writing. He encourages her to become a serious writer instead of writing sensational stories for weekly tabloids. "Bhaer has all the qualities Bronson Alcott lacked: warmth, intimacy, and a tender capacity for expressing his affection—the feminine attributes Alcott admired and hoped men could acquire in a rational, feminist world." They eventually marry and raise his two orphaned nephews, Franz and Emil, and their own sons, Rob and Ted.