Museum director for the Hamburger Kunsthalle; notable advocate and collector of German modernist works. Heise was born in Hamburg, Germany as the only child of upper middle-class merchant Francis Julius Heise and Helene Kaemmerer (Heise). He attended the private secondary school of Dr. August Bieber until age 15, when he then moved to the Staatliche Oberrealschule in Uhlenhorst.

Advocate for 19th and 20th century art, professional career in Germany, 1908 to 1949. Hildebrandt was born in Staufen (Baden), Germany. He studied law at Mannheim until 1904, when he began his studies in art history until approximately 1912. In Munich and Heidelberg, his studies covered the areas of art history, wall painting, archaeology, and philosophy. In 1908, he completed his dissertation on German art history, titled Die Architektur bei Albrecht Altdorfer, under Henry Thode in Strasbourg.