He created his works without any training or examples; but he did heed the advice of passing landscape painters to trust in his powers of observation.

After his works were first shown in Konstanz in 1913, he received some recognition in Germany, where he was associated with the Neue Sachlichkeit movement and called the "German Rousseau".

[1] The motives of Dietrich's works are limited to his immediate surroundings in Berlingen, and include rural landscapes, animals, people and still lifes.

Drawing on his powers of observation, Dietrich imbued his still life and animal paintings with a strong sense of materiality and executed them with what was for an untrained painter an exceptional precision.

[1] Some of Dietrich's works are exhibited in the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, the Museum zu Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen, the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Zander Collection in Cologne.