Biography

1888
Born on 31 December 1888 in Eschau im Spessart (district of Miltenberg), youth in Eggenfelden in Lower Bavaria

1899 - 1905
Attends grammar school in Aschaffenburg, from 1900 in Landshut

1905 - 1909
Studied in Munich, first architecture at the Polytechnic Hochschule, while attending evening school and the municipal trade school
From summer semester 1908 attends the Royal Academy of Fine Arts

1909 - 10
One-year voluntary military service

1910
Resumption of studies at the academy
Additional private lessons at the art school of Carl Johann Becker-Gundahl (1856-1925)

1911
First own studio in Munich
First solo exhibitions in Landshut and Rosenheim and first commissions
Recognisable influences of late Impressionism and Naturalism

1914
Establishment of a private school with painter friend Karl Puxkandl at Simmsee near Rosenheim
Draft to the Western Front, produces sketches of the everyday lives of soldiers as well as Belgian and French civilians

1916
Schaefler is severely wounded by a bullet to the head retires from military service

1917 - 1918
Assignment as a ski instructor for the German Alpine Corps in Oberstdorf and the Dolomites
Meets and shortly afterwards marries Vera Linzen (1895-1938), daughter of the writer Clara Ratzka (1871-1928)

1918
Birth of his son Hannsotto (1918-1983)
Solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Mannheim

1918 - 1919
Creates numerous graphic prints, primarily expressive woodcuts and etchings
Participation in exhibitions at the progressive-avant-garde gallery "Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz"
Involvement in the Munich Revolution, member of the "Action Committee of Revolutionary Artists"
Editor for fine arts of the magazine "Der Weg" (first issue January 1919) and contributor to "Süddeutsche Freiheit"
Production of many portraits of families and friends as well as artists and intellectuals from Munich circles
Contact with other artists of his time, including Paul Klee (1879-1940), Georg Schrimpf (1889-1938), Heinrich Maria Davringhausen (1894-1970) and Hans Otto Baumann (1862-1927)

1919
Suppression of the revolution in May 1919, flees to Alfred Kubin (1877-1959), then settles with his family in Prien-Ernstdorf (Chiemsee)
Creates numerous landscapes and rural figure paintings

Around 1920
First contact with the Jewish textile manufacturer and later patron and collector Joseph Heymann (1887-1954), based in Cologne and Wipperfürth, via the art critic, friend and patron Kurt Gerstenberg (1886-1968), with whom Schaefler had already been in contact since his time in Munich
Until his emigration to London in 1937, Joseph Heymann acquires around 70 works by Schaefler, which are still owned by the family today

1920 - 1921
Commissions for Munich theatres, creating stage sets and costumes for the workers' theatre "Neue Bühne" as well as the Nationaltheater
Collaboration with the dancer Manda von Kreibig (1901-1989), design of costumes and posters

1922 - 1923
Major commission from Joseph Heymann to decorate his home and the factory in Wipperfürth

1923
Solo exhibition in Hanover, Kestner Society

1927
Moves to Cologne for economic reasons on the advice of his architect friend Hans Hansen (1889-1966)
Here he cultivates friendships with the artists of the "Cologne Progressives", such as Heinrich Hoerle (1895-1936) and Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (1894-1933) as well as the painter Anton Räderscheidt (1892-1970) and the architect Wilhelm Riphahn (1889-1963). He takes over Davringhausen's flat and studio in Cologne-Bickendorf in the so-called "Riphahn Siedlung" (Riphahn Estate)

1927 - 1929
Takes on commissions for the colour design of cooperative housing estates of Cologne's GAG (Gemeinnützige Wohnungsbau-AG) and several hospitals in Germany

1929 - 1939
Production of stained glass windows for churches and secular buildings as well as the design of numerous religious buildings and youth centres in Cologne and the surrounding area
Execution of private commissions, in addition to his work as a colour designer at GAG

1936
Solo exhibition at the Kölnischer Kunstverein, stained glass window designs and watercolours, Cologne

1937
Removal of some of his expressionist works from museums
Included in the "Degenerate Art" exhibition in Munich with two of his works
Schaefler is banned from painting

1938
Death of his wife after a long illness