Early Life and Education
Janssen was born in Hamburg. His mother, Martha Janssen, was a dressmaker from Oldenburg; he never knew his father. Janssen was brought up by his mother and grandparents at Lerchenstraße 14, Oldenburg. He was adopted by his grandfather, and following his death, he was adopted by the Guardianship Court in 1939.
In 1942, he became a student at the National Political Institute of Education (German: Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt or napola) in Haselünne, Emsland, where an art teacher, Hans Wienhausen, encouraged his artistic talent. His mother died in 1943. In 1944, he was adopted by his mother's younger sister, Anna Janssen, and he moved to Hamburg, where she lived. He lived with his Aunt Anna on Burchardstraße for the remainder of the war and the postwar period. They later moved to Warburgstraße (Harvestehude). In 1946, at the age of sixteen, Janssen enrolled at the Landeskunstschule (regional art school) in Hamburg, where he studied with Alfred Mahlau, proving to be an outstanding pupil from the outset.
Read more about this topic: Horst Janssen
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