Erwin Speckter

[1] Another lithographer, Heinrich Joachim Herterich, was living there at the time and his collection inspired Erwin's first interest in art.

His father provided some of his first painting lessons, along with the local artist Friedrich Carl Gröger,[2] while he attended a famous private school operated by Leonhard Wächter.

Two years later, he studied in Munich with Peter von Cornelius and assisted him with his decorations for the loggia at the Alte Pinakothek.

[2] This reinforced his artistic inclinations which, upon his return home, were further subjected to the influence of a meeting with Philipp Otto Runge, and manifested themselves in paintings he did for a local estate in Hamm.

[1] His Briefe eines deutschen Künstlers aus Italien (Letters from Italy by a German Painter) were published posthumously by his brother-in-law, the Professor Christian Friedrich Wurm [de].