"I had set my heart on becoming an artist. And I was stubborn. I didn't care one bit whether my father accepted my decision or not. And if the masters had, instead of encouraging me, told me I had no talent, it wouldn't have mattered to me. I would have pursued my path anyway. I taught myself to paint. I started when I was twenty-four or twenty-five. Ludwig Meidner told me, "You paint as a bird sings."

In class, I never painted, I just drew. I started drawing nudes right away and did so with a passion. When all the other students had gone home, I would remain alone in Professor Meyer's studio. I would sit in front of a skeleton and draw it all afternoon. One day, Professor Meyer came in and said, "What are you doing here? Go home!" We weren't allowed to remain in the studio after class.

I never allowed anyone to correct me, never listened to the teachers, never did what they told me to do--always the opposite. Once, when a teacher made a correction to one of my drawings, I became very angry.!

"I had a lion's mane of frizzy red curls, which I tossed about. I believe I was very restless in general, and I decided I would only serve as a model this once and never again. When the door opened and a bald little man in a velvet jacket walked in, my heart skipped a beat. I was at once fascinated by his aura. Surprised, I immediately felt I had known him for a long time, as if we had lived together in a former life. Yes, I rejoiced silently, this is the man I will marry! All this went through my head as if I had been hypnotised. (Later, Ludwig would tell me that I had also immediately seemed familiar to him!) I had to force myself to concentrate on posing. Meidner went over to a student to correct her work and asked her why she hadn't drawn anything yet. "Oh, the model seems so disagreeable", the girl answered. "Oh no," Meidner said, "She has a wonderful head, please get started right away." During the break he approached me and asked, "Miss, can you come and see me sometime? I'd like to make an etching of you." He wrote his address down for me. It was Motzstrasse 55, fourth floor, a studio under the roof. I promised to come on a certain day. Of course, I didn't dare tell my father; he never would have allowed it. And so I made my way to the studio of "Mr. Meidner". It was about an hour's journey by tram. [...]

I noticed how shabby his studio was. I myself was from a wealthy family. We had a ten-room apartment with servants and I was very spoiled. But I liked his studio; the Bohemian ambience fascinated me. When, after the sitting, Ludwig offered me some bean soup he had cooked himself, it tasted better to me than any of the fancy dishes our cook prepared. He showed me some of his drawings (he was already calling me his "little colleague"), which I liked very much, and then I went home. We agreed to meet again, and thus began a serious friendship. I showed him my work. He liked it and persuaded me to attend his class."

from: Joseph Paul Hodin, Aus den Erinnerungen von Else Meidner (From the Memoirs of Else Meidner), Darmstadt 1979.