Käthe Kollwitz (née Schmidt) grew up in Königsberg, where her father was head of the German free church congregation founded by her grandfather (on her mother's side), Julius Rupp. Early on, her father recognised that his youngest daughter was gifted at drawing and in 1881 he enabled her to begin training under the copperplate engraver Rudolf Mauer and later under the painter Emil Neide. At the age of 17, Käthe Kollwitz applied to the 'Künstlerinnen-Schule' in Berlin, where she studied under Karl Stauffer-Bern. Her teacher introduced her to Max Klinger's prints. These along with Klinger's publication 'Painting and Drawing' prove to have a highly formative effect on the young artist. In 1888/89 Käthe Kollwitz was given the opportunity to study under Ludwig Heterich in Munich. Having returned to Königsberg in 1890, she was intensely engaged in etching for the first time. A year later she married the physician Dr. Karl Kollwitz, with whom she moved to Berlin. On seeing the premiére of Gerhard Hauptmann's 'Die Weber' in 1893, Käthe Kollwitz embarked on a cycle of etchings also entitled 'The Weavers'. Five years later this cycle would create a sensation at the 'Große Berliner Kunstausstellung', where it would be nominated for the award of the small gold medal. From 1898 to 1903 Käthe Kollwitz taught graphic arts and drawing at the Berlin 'Künstlerinnen-Schule'. During those years, she began working on a new searies of etchings, 'Bauernkrieg', which is regarded as the logical sequel to her first series. In this representation of the Peasants' War, the artist describes poverty, human suffering, war and death, showing strong social commitment. In 1901 she first traveled to Paris. After she stopped teaching, she returned to Paris in 1904, attending a sculpture class at 'Académie Julian' and making the acquaintance of Auguste Rodin. In 1907 Käthe Kollwitz received the 'Villa Romana Prize', which enabled her to spend a year studying in Florence. Her younger son's death at the beginning of World War II motivated Kollwitz to create a woodcut series entitled 'Der Krieg' ('The War'). On the occasion of her 50th birthday, Käthe Kollwitz received numerous honours and awards and was celebrated in various exhibitions. In Berlin Paul Cassirer mounted a comprehensive exhibition of her work comprising almost 200 etchings, lithographies and drawings. Two years later, Kollwitz was appointed professor at the 'Preussische Akademie der Künste' and became head of the master studio for graphic arts in 1928. After the Nazis' rise to power in 1933, Käthe Kollwitz left the academy and only three years later some of the artist's works were removed from public exhibitions, yet her art was never classified 'degenerate'. The war forced the artist to move to Nordhausen and then to Moritzburg in Saxony. Her flat and her Berlin studio were destroyed in bombing raids. Käthe Kollwitz died eight days before the end of the war in Moritzburg.