From 1914 apprenticeship in the drawing office Silberwarenfabrik Koch & Bergfeld. 1916 - 1919 attendance at the Kunstgewerbeschule Bremen. 1919 - 1922 trainee as silversmith at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie Hanau/ Main.

1923 begin of study at Bauhaus in Weimar with László Moholy-Nagy. 1924 design of the famous Bauhaus lamp. 1925, after the dissolution of the Bauhaus in Weimar, member of the Deutscher Werkbund. Assistant of Richard Winkelmayer, head of the metal workshop at the Staatliche Hochschule für Handwerk und Baukunst in Weimar. 1929 takeover of the management of the metal workshops and close practical cooperation with the industry.

1930 resignation and entry into freelance work for the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, a jewellery factory in Schwäbisch Gmünd and the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen company. From 1931 lecturer at the Staatliche Kunsthochschule Grunewaldstraße in Berlin-Schöneberg. 1935 - 1947 takeover the artistic management of the Vereinigte Lausitzer Glaswerke in Weißwasser/ Oberlausitz. 1937, 1940 and 1957 awarded the Grand Prix for his works that were exhibited at the Paris World Exhibition and Milan Triennial. After military service in 1944 and captivity in 1945, return to Weißwasser. Since 1945 numerous appointments at universities. Through Hans Scharoun, position as lecturer at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Berlin and head of the department of typification and standardization at the Institut für Bauwesen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 1949 assumption of a position as consultant for industrial design at the Württembergische Landesgewerbeamt Stuttgart. 1950 - 1977 cooperation with Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG (WMF) in Geislingen. 1954 foundation of the Versuchs- und Entwicklungswerkstatt für Industriemodelle in Stuttgart.

1964 exhibition of some of his works at the exhibition "Industrial Design and Graphics" that ran parallel at documenta 3.