Spartacus Review Books Rudolf Ackermann Rudolf Ackermann, the sixth child of Barthel Ackermann (1723–1798), a saddler, and his wife, Justina Scharschmidt (1732–1808), was born in Saxony on 20th April 1764. In 1779 Ackermann was apprenticed as a saddler. However, he had become increasingly interested in drawing and at the age of