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Gerhard Richter was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1932. He grew up in the countryside, in Reichenau (1935) and Waltersdorf (1942) in Saxony's Oberlausitz. His mother was the daughter of a concert pianist. She encouraged her son's artistic interests. His father was a local school teacher and a member of the NSDAP who lost his job after the war (in which he had served). Gerhard lived his first thirteen years under National Socialism. Two of his uncles died in action, his mentally disabled aunt was killed a part of the Nazi euthanasia program.
After the war, Gerhard lived for sixteen years under East German Communism. In 1948, he left school after tenth grade with a certificate of graduation. He was apprenticed as an advertising and stage-set painter in the town of Zittau. In 1950, he applied to Dresden Art Academy but was rejected. In 1951, he painted political banners for state-owned businesses. In 1952, he reapplied for Dresden Art Academy and was accepted to the "free painting" class. He studied there for four years, during the final year in the mural painting class.

In 1955, Richter had the chance to tour West Germany and to travel for a week to Paris. The following year, he painted a mural at the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden as his graduation project upon which he became a master student and was given a studio at the academy for three years.