He was born to Heinrich Bantzer (1809–1863), a
veterinarian. After his father's death, his mother moved the family to Marburg, where he attended the prestigious
Gymnasium Philippinum. Later, he studied at the
Academy of Arts, Berlin. In 1884 and 1885 he was in
Schwalm, where he worked with the painter , from Dresden. He also spent time in
Treysa, painting portraits of local notables and people in traditional costume. in Hesse His first wife, Claire, died in 1887, giving birth to their son Arnold. After her death, he went to
Willingshausen, where he befriended the artists
Hermann Kätelhön and . He would return there every summer for many years. In 1890, he stayed in Paris for several months. The following year, he was in Dresden. In 1893, he went on an extended study trip with , visiting spas throughout central Germany, including
Heilbad Heiligenstadt,
Bad Sooden-Allendorf and
Bad Hersfeld, as well as
Schlitz,
Aufenau,
Kinzig and
Vogelsberg. Having failed to find any suitable models for his work, he returned to Willingshausen. In 1896, he had an old wooden church disassembled and reconstructed in Marburg, to use as a studio. That same year, he was appointed a Professor at the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. He remarried in 1899, to Helene Francis Darbishire (1874–1953). This marriage produced five children, including , an illustrator of children's books who married the cartoonist known as
E. O. Plauen, and Carl Francis Bantzer (1900-1945), who also became a painter. Carl Francis, in turn, was the father of the actor,
Christoph Bantzer, and the musician,
Claus Bantzer. From 1903, he was a member of the
Deutscher Künstlerbund In 1904, he participated in their first join exhibition with the
Munich Secession at the
Staatliche Antikensammlungen. In 1909,
Kurt Schwitters became one of his students. In 1918, he was appointed Director of the
Kunsthochschule Kassel, a position he held until 1923. He was awarded the
Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft in 1937. At that time, the awards were personally chosen by
Hitler Two years later, he was a candidate for the
German National Prize for Art and Science. He paid his last visit to Willingshausen just before his death, in 1941. A school in Ziegenhain bears his name. In 2015, a statue of him, created by , was erected in the schoolyard. ==References==