Karl Walser was born in Teufen, on April 8, 1877, He completed an apprenticeship as a decorative artist in Strasbourg and Stuttgart. Most of Walser's earlier works were lost during
World War II. Between 1899 and 1914 he lived in Berlin and became a board member of the
Berlin Secession (1903) and later a member of the
Deutsche Künstlerbund (German Artists’ Association). While in Berlin, he worked as an illustrator for the publisher
Bruno Cassirer and designed the majority of his book illustrations. He also completed murals for the private residences of renowned figures. In addition to several study trips to Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Japan, Karl Walser produced stage sets for opera and theatre from 1903. He also received commissions for book cover designs and book illustrations. In 1910 he married Hedwig Agnes Czarnetzki Walser (1885-1987). He returned to Switzerland in 1917 and mainly worked on the painterly decoration of public spaces, such as the Amtshaus in
Zurich, the Stadttheater in Bern and the Grossratssaal at Bern City Hall. He died in Bern, on September 28, 1943. He was buried at the
Schosshalden Cemetery in Bern. ==References==