Egon
Schiele was born June 12, 1890, to Marie and
Adolph Schiele in Tullin, a small town on the
Austrian Danube where Adolph was stationmaster.
Egon had two older sisters - Elvira (who lived
only ten years) and Melanie - and one younger
sister, Gertie, to whom he was the closest in
his childhood. In 1915, Schiele married Edith
Harms, who lived with her parents across the
street from his studio.
This change necessitated the termination of
his four year relationship with the ever faithful
Wally. A few days after the wedding, Schiele
was inducted into the army. Austria shielded
its cultural elite from dangerous duty, sparing
Schiele from combat; nevertheless, it was a
rocky beginning for a marriage paring such differing
sensibilities.
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