[1] From 1896 to 1904, he attended the Kunstakademie there; studying with Max Schmidt, Emil Neide [de] and Ludwig Dettmann, who admitted him to his Master Class.

That is where he met his future wife, Oda Hardt [de], a student who would also become a well-known artist.

[1] He was also a member of the Deutscher Kunstlerbund After the mobilization in 1914, he was drafted into the Landwehr and sent to the Western Front in Belgium.

[1] After that, he was assigned to the Occupation Administration in Brussels, where he worked with Gottfried Benn, who was then serving as a military doctor.

His physical and mental states had suffered dramatically, however, and he was taken to the Truppenübungsplatz Arys [de] (A military training area) to be closer to his family.