Born in Züllichau, the son of the concert pianist Lotte Kruse (daughter of the music writer Georg Richard Kruse) and of the teacher and violinist Ernst Arlt, after gaining initial experience on the piano, He began to learn violin playing from his father at the age of six.
He was taught for ten years by his father, who discovered the gift of absolute pitch with him.
Arlt played in the Hochschulorchester [de], which was occasionally conducted by Sergiu Celibidache, who was also a student at the time.
[4] From 1946, he was with the Radio Berlin Tanzorchester [de] for four years (conducting: Horst Kudritzki) and held the post of concertmaster there.
The task of this orchestra was to provide the concertante framework for the broadcasts of the RIAS and Sender Freies Berlin.