Hans Hüttig was born on 5 April 1894.[1] The son of a carpenter, Hüttig's father would eventually open a shop selling photographic equipment and this became the family trade, with Hans Hüttig's brother a founder of Zeiss Ikon.[2]:191 Sent to a boarding school in south Germany he attempted to enter the army in 1911 but failed the exam and returned home to work as a salesman in his father's shop.[2]:192 Early in 1914, he left the shop to take a post with an import-export company in German East Africa.[2]:192