Karl Cauer

He received his initial training in his family's workshop, then left for to Berlin, where he was given further instruction by Christian Daniel Rauch and Albert Wolff.

On behalf of the Prussian Ministry of Education, he was charge of producing casts of antiquities for use at art schools in Berlin.

In 1884, he visited the United States to attend the dedication of a monument in St. Louis that he had designed; honoring assassinated President James A. Garfield.

When he returned, he was severely ill, so a major project, the Hutten Sickingen Monument [de] in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, had to be completed by his sons Robert and Ludwig.

He is generally credited with being the inventor of Elfenbeingips [de] (ivory gypsum), a molding substance and binding agent which is cheap and easy to clean.