Pietist doctrine encouraged an intensive study of the Bible, the cultivation of personal religious experience, and missionary work abroad. Hermann Gundert had trained at the Mission Society of Basel, and then went to work in India. There, he became fascinated by India's languages and cultures, and began to study them himself; it was a passion that made a tremendous impact on his grandson. By the time Hesse was a youngster, his grandfather was a renowned Orientalist, and Hesse enjoyed spending time in the Gundert home, filled with exotic artifacts and often host to visiting scholars. The Calwer Verlagsverein employed Hesse's father, Johannes Hesse, who had been born in Estonia to German parents. Johannes Hesse had also trained with the Mission Society of Basel, then spent four years in the East Indies, but was weakened by illness and sent to Calw to recuperate. There he met Hesse's mother, Marie Gundert, a widow with two boys. Hesse's sister, Adele, preceded his arrival.
As a child, Hesse proved a bright but headstrong boy. Intelligent, he was nevertheless indifferent to his studies and balked at authority. He began at the Latin School of Güppingen in 1890, and the following year won a scholarship to the Protestant Theological Seminary at Maulbronn.
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