Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he became apprentice in a pharmacy and then a pharmacist himself (like his father). In 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work ("Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe", now lost). His first published work, the novella "Geschwisterliebe" (or "Sibling Love"), appeared in the "Berlin Figaro" in December 1839.