Karl Stauffer-Bern

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich under Feodor Dietz and Ludwig von Löfftz.

He was also a teacher at the Berlin School for Women Artists,[2] where his students included Käthe Kollwitz, Hedwig Weiß and Clara Siewert.

The affair turned to love and a divorce from Welti was proposed, but he contacted the Swiss Embassy in Rome and used his considerable influence to separate them.

In a state of despondency over the loss of his love, he suffered a nervous breakdown and spent some time in the San Bonifazio mental hospital [it].

[2] In January 1891, unable to work and apparently suffering from persecution mania, he committed suicide with an overdose of chloral hydrate.