Harold Knerr

Who was Harold Knerr?

Harold Hering Knerr was an American comic strip creator, who signed his work H. H. Knerr. He was best known as the writer-artist of The Katzenjammer Kids for 35 years.

Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Harold Knerr's father was Calvin B. Knerr, a German physician who had migrated to the United States. His mother was Melitta Hering, daughter of Constantine Hering, a pioneer of homeopathy. After attending the Episcopal Academy, he studied for two years at the Philadelphia College of Art and then became a newspaper illustrator. He recalled, "My first newspaper work was drawing pictures of gravestones atop the oldest graves in a local cemetery for The Philadelphia Record. These were paid for at the fee of three dollars each."