Born in 1938, Astrid was a war-child, and her wealthy family lived in the well-heeled area of Altona, Hamburg. Evacuated to the Baltic, she missed the word of the hostilities, but life was not easy on her return to Hamburg. “Luckily, my family’s house was not destroyed, although all the windows were blown out and we did not have any heating. Thankfully, we were all alive. The main focus was “How do we get food?” My mother was especially successful in this. She sold or exchanged everything we had, the furniture and all her jewellery, to get money to buy food.
“Although it was the war, I had a happy childhood. Altona is close to the harbour, and many houses – including the whole road next to ours – were destroyed, but we had a lot of fun playing on the bomb sites. Our parents warned us not to play there, but we always did – because it was so interesting!”
Astrid’s artistic flair- especially for textiles – was soon recognised, and encouraged by her mother Neilsa. “At home, we lived in the kitchen because that was the only place my mother could heat. It was also the only room that still had windows. We did not have any radio, so at night my mother used to draw things such as the dresses she used to wear before the war. She would sit in the kitchen on dark winter nights sewing little dresses for my dolls, and would show me how to do it. Her family had been very rich, and she taught me about texture and things that are fine. That influenced me a lot. She taught me to draw when I was 6 or 7. Later I was keen to become a fashion designer.
When it was time for me to go to college I attended Hamburg School of Fashion and Design. Here I met Reinhart Wolf, who taught me about photography. Gradually, I changed my mind and decided to become a photographer. Reinhart taught me about faces – that it was what was behind a face that a photographer should try to reach when they took a portrait. When I graduated, I became Reinhardt's assistant, which was a great honour. My mother bought me a good camera – a Rollercord – and Reinhart encouraged me to take pictures in my spare time. He let me use his dark room and was always prepared to discuss my photos, and the art of composition. That was what I was doing when I met The Beatles.”
Astrid Kirchherr on her upbringing. Interview by Colin Hall for Get Rhythm, August 2001
