 Hartwich's early years were characterized by considerable moving about among different parts of Germany.Having attended elementary school in Danzig, in 1853 he was sent to the Humanistische Gymnasium in Berlin, and from 1856 to the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Cologne.In 1862 he took up study of jurisprudence at the University of Heidelberg, where he became a member of the ancient student fraternity, the Corps Rhenania.