Heinz Ritter (Harrison Knight) was the grandfather of Gabriel Knight.
Background[]
Born in Germany as Heinz Ritter, the son of Wilhelm Ritter, he wished to forsake his role of Schattenjäger and the "Curse" of his family, he immigrated to America when he was 21 sometime after 1925 and he legally changed his name. He worked his way through school.
He went to a church revival to listen to Reverend Jim. While the preacher was ranting and raging, an add-on piece of his hair fell and only he and a young woman who was sitting before him, Rebecca Wright, noticed and laughed. Then they met and realized they were for each other. He wrote poems for Rebecca while they were courting.
Harrison was a good-looker and attracted looks from other women, making Rebecca jealous. Together they had a son, Philip Knight. He never told Rebecca about his life before coming to America, wishing to spare his family from the "Curse", but his wife could tell that he was troubled. Both father and son suffered from nightmares. Only by finding his passport she realized his previous name, but never asked, and promised to herself to never talk about this to anyone. He supported his family with bookkeeping although he hated it. He kept loosing jobs and was ashamed for it.
He had a clock with a secret compartment that opened with a mechanical combination. There he had hidden a photograph of his father and himself with his brother as young boys. There he had also kept a letter from his father discussing the Schattenjägers. He also had written a German verse named Drei Drachen signed as Heinz Ritter, so he probably wrote it while still in Germany.
When he was 36 (around 1943), he was hit by a street car in the business district, when his son was only 8 years old.
Day 1, Gabriel moves a clock from on top of a chest to a nearby chair in Rebecca Knight's attic. After fiddling with it, and its learning its secret (then turning the winding key), he opens it. Inside, he learns about Wilhelm Ritter from a photo hidden in a secret compartment. It showed Wilhelm with his sons Heinz and Wolfgang at Schloss Ritter in 1925. He also finds a letter (Clock Letter) addressed to his son Heinz.
See also[]
Behind the scenes[]
The accounts of Harrison Ritter's death differ between sources. In GK1, he died when he was hit by a street car at age 36. In the novel it is said he died of a heart failure in his mid-thirties.