Gustav Jenner was born on 3 December 1865 in Keitum on the island of Sylt, where his father was working at the time as a spa doctor. In 1870 the family moved to the Ruhr but returned to Schleswig-Holstein in 1879. His father now had a practice in Gleschendorf (near Lübeck) and the 14 year-old Jenner had finished secondary school (Realschule) and also wanted to become a doctor, although his inclination for music had been awakened in the meantime. In order to study medicine, Jenner needed his school leaving certificate (Abitur) and so had to attend a grammar school. The Königliches Gymnasium in Kiel was chosen, where at first he would be able to live with an uncle. At Easter 1880 Jenner entered the fourth year of grammar school (Untertertia), where he was a fellow pupil of Karl and August Groth, two sons of Klaus Groth, a poet and professor of literature who lived in Kiel. He was also a great music lover who, as organiser, audience member and reviewer of concerts, took an active part in the musical life of the city. It was therefore inevitable that his sons’ musical classmate would attract the attention of Groth, who later wrote: “I got to know Gustav Jenner when still a pupil at the local grammar school; my sons, who were also studying music a little, brought him, their classmate, to us, lauding his superior skill as a pianist. At that time his skill left much to be desired but nevertheless you could hear immediately that there was a musician in this boy. Since then I have kept an eye on the young man with the thought that I might be able to hold a protective hand over him here and there, should danger threaten.” Initially, Groth’s support consisted of finding a good music teacher for the talented pupil. Thus starting in autumn 1880, Jenner had private lessons in organ and the theory of harmony with Hermann Stange who, as a choral and orchestral conductor, an organist and Music Director at the university, was Kiel’s most respected musician at that time. It was probably also Groth’s intervention that led, in 1884, to Jenner being taken on as a pupil of piano and counterpoint by Theodor Gänge, the singing teacher and choirmaster at the grammar school.

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