Editing John Heartfield (section)

===Early life, education and work===
John Heartfield was born Helmut Herzfeld on 19 June 1891 in [[Berlin-Schmargendorf]], Berlin under the [[German Empire]]. His parents were Franz Herzfeld, a socialist writer, and Alice (née Stolzenburg), a textile worker and political activist.<ref>{{cite book| chapter= Biographical Chronology |title= John Heartfield| editor-first1= Peter |editor-last1= Pachnicke |editor-first2= Klaus |editor-last2= Honnef| publisher= Harry N. Abrams Inc.| location= New York| year= 1991}}</ref>

In 1899, Helmut, his brother [[Wieland Herzfelde|Wieland]], and their sisters Lotte and Hertha were abandoned in the woods by their parents after Franz Herzfeld was accused of blasphemy.{{clarify| And, what happened? Looks nonsensical as it is now. |date= March 2024}} His family{{clarify| Who, just the parents? |date= March 2024}} had to flee to [[Switzerland]] and later they were deported to [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]. When their parents disappeared in 1899,{{clarify| Again? |date= March 2024}} Heartfield and his siblings were left abandoned in a mountain hut. The four children went to live with an uncle, Ignaz, in the small Austrian town of [[Aigen (Salzburg city district)|Aigen]].<ref>[https://www.sartle.com/artist/john-heartfield#:~:text=His%20family%20had%20to%20flee,abandoned%20in%20a%20mountain%20hut Heartfield biodata], sartle.com. Accessed 16 December 2022.</ref>

In 1908, he studied art in [[Munich]] at the [[Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule München]] (Royal Bavarian Arts and Crafts School). Two commercial designers, [[Albert Weisgerber]] and [[Ludwig Hohlwein]], were early influences.

While living in Berlin, he began styling himself "John Heartfield", an [[anglicisation]] of his German name, to protest against [[anti-British]] fervour sweeping Germany during the [[First World War]], when Berlin crowds often shouted "[[Gott strafe England]]!" ("May God punish England!") in the  streets.<ref name=AMZ>{{cite book| title= John Heartfield and the Agitated Image: Photography, Persuasion, and the Rise of Avant-Garde Photomontage| first= Andres Mario |last= Zervigon| year= 2012| publisher= University of Chicago Press| isbn= 9780226981772}}</ref>

During the same year, Heartfield, his brother Wieland and [[George Grosz]] launched the Malik publishing house in Berlin. In 1916, he and George Grosz experimented with pasting pictures together, a form of art later named [[photomontage]], and which would become a central characteristic of their work.

In 1917, Heartfield became a member of [[Berlin Club Dada]].<ref name=AMZ /> Heartfield would later become active in the [[Dada]] movement, helping to organise the [[Erste Internationale Dada-Messe]] (First International Dada Fair) in Berlin in 1920. [[Dadaists]] were provocateurs who disrupted public art gatherings and ridiculed the participants. They labeled traditional art trivial and bourgeois.

In January 1918, Heartfield joined the newly founded German Communist Party ([[KPD]]).<ref name=AMZ />