Schittenhelm (née Tews; 1877-1955) and merchant Edwin Alexander Johannes Schittenhelm (1871-1913).

Helm attended school at the , an orphanage for girls with an attached school, founded by the entrepreneur Eduard Arnhold, located at the old customs station Werftpfuhl in Hirschfelde (now Werneuchen-Hirschfelde, Brandenburg). She took an interest in acting as a child, and by the age of twelve was taking the lead in school plays.