Painter, printmaker, and graphic artist Heinz Auerswald was born in Zschopau, Germany in 1891. Though he was born into a poor working class family, he was encouraged to pursue art as his aptitude for drawing became apparent. After graduation from high school, he was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts, Dresden, leading to study trips to Italy and Austria. Soon thereafter he established a career as both a landscape painter and a graphic artist, working in Berlin and Dresden. He died in Güstrow in 1974.