Talk Berty to me: Childhood
I was born as Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht on the 10th of February 1898, in Augsburg, Bavaria, in the German Empire (about 80 km from Munich). My mother was a dedicated Protestant, though my father was a Catholic...so how they got around to getting married is still a bit of a mystery to me....
Anyway, I had a fairly good childhood, living in a comfortable middle-class home. School was fine, mostly because my good friend Caspar Neher.
[My friend Caspar Neher]
Then, when I was 16, WWI broke out. I have to admit, I was initially quite enthusiastic and excited by the idea, but I soon changed my mind when so many of my school friends had to join the army. My father told me to try to find a loophole I could use to get out of fighting in the war, so I registered for an additional medical course at Munich University. I enrolled in 1917.
While at University, I studied drama with Arthur Kutscher, who greatly inspired me to admire Frank Wedekind, the dramatist and cabaret-star.
[Arthur Kutscher]
[Frank Wedekind]