Gerhard Hillich was born in 1944 in Bärwalde (Saxony). Following an apprenticeship as a telecommunications technician, he worked as a technical assistant in television broadcasting until 1964. He went on to study art education at the Humboldt University of Berlin from 1964 to 1969. Subsequently, he served as a research associate at the Märkisches Museum and as a lecturer in artistic practice at the Institute for Art Education, HU Berlin. A member of the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR, Hillich held his first significant solo exhibition of paintings and graphic works at the Galerie am Prater, Berlin. He died in Berlin in 2000.