Beuys was born in Krefeld on 12 May 1921, and grew up in the nearby city of Kleve. His family was strong catholic. As a young child he began his interest in art by often engaging in making watercolours. He first saw modern art when visiting the studio of Achilles Moortgat. At the age of seventeen in 1938, he joined Hitler Youth, like many young German men at that time. He studied many disciplines before engaging in his art practice, and was particularly interested in natural sciences and history, including alchemy, and focussed on medicine with the intention of becoming a doctor. During his studies, however, World War II began, and he became a soldier in the German air force. There, he was a rear gunner (gunner in the back) in a military airplane. In 1943 one of his close friends died in a concentration camp.