Childhood
Heinrich Zille was the son of watchmaker Johann Traugott Zille and his wife Ernestine Louise, née Heinitz. Ernestine was a miner's daughter. His father had originally been a blacksmith, however, being technically skilled, had gone on to become a watchmaker, goldsmith and inventor of tools.
Heinrich Zille was born in the little town of Radeburg (near Dresden) in Saxony. Zille spent his early years in Potschappel.
Heinrich Zille's childhood was not without trouble. His father was incarcerated several times in debtor's prison and creditors harassed the family so much that the young Zille was often sent to live with his grandmother. In 1867 the family left town because of their debt and went to Berlin.
While still in school, the young Zille began to take drawing lessons. The teacher was supportive, and during a discussion of his future career aspirations, encouraged Zille to become a lithographer. Zille's father wanted Heinrich to become a butcher. Heinrich could not stand the sight of blood, however, so he went to the draughtsman Fritz Hecht on Jakobstraße for his education.
Zille's great-grandniece is Helen Zille, the former mayor of Cape Town and Premier of the Western Cape province in South Africa.
Read more about this topic: Heinrich Zille
Famous quotes containing the word childhood:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“Sadism is not an infectious disease that strikes a person all of a sudden. It has a long prehistory in childhood and always originates in the desperate fantasies of a child who is searching for a way out of a hopeless situation.”
—Alice Miller (20th century)
“It is not however, adulthood itself, but parenthood that forms the glass shroud of memory. For there is an interesting quirk in the memory of women. At 30, women see their adolescence quite clearly. At 30 a woman’s adolescence remains a facet fitting into her current self.... At 40, however, memories of adolescence are blurred. Women of this age look much more to their earlier childhood for memories of themselves and of their mothers. This links up to her typical parenting phase.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)