Much like Max Beckmann, his master students faced defamation, marginalization, and persecution at the hands of the Nazis. A significant portion of their work was lost or destroyed during World War II, leaving little to rediscover. Furthermore, during the Cold War, the art market did not value works which were dedicated to their subject matter. They belong to the lost generation.

Born in Reutlingen in 1949. From 1969 to 1976, studied Art Education, Romance Studies, and Art History at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design and the University of Stuttgart. From 1976 to 1981, worked as a dramaturge at theaters in Ulm, Freiburg, and Zurich. From 1981 to 1985, pursued doctoral studies at the University of Stuttgart, completing the Ph.D. in 1987. From 1985 to 2014, served as an editor at the Verlag der Autoren, and from 1989 to 2010, was the managing director of the same publishing house. In 2012, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Education Freiburg. In 2013, Märchen und Geschichten der Beduinen im Sinai was published by Reichert Verlag Wiesbaden. In 2019, served as the editor (together with Wolfgang Schopf) for Fundus: Das Buch vom Verlag der Autoren 1969-2019. From 2014 to 2021, pursued further studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, earning a Master's degree in Art History.