Born in Munich in 1868, Richard Riemerschmid served in the military in 1886/1887 before studying at the Munich Art Academy until 1890. After leaving the Academy, Richard Riemerschmid freelanced as a painter in Munich. Richard Riemerschmid wrote for "Jugend" magazine. In 1898 Richard Riemerschmid co-founded the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk in Munich and also produced his first furniture designs for the Vereinigte Werkstätten. In 1899 Richard Riemerschmid showed his designs for a music salon at the Dresden art exhibition of that year. In 1900/01 Richard Riemerschmid built the Schauspielhaus theatre in Munich. In 1902 Richard Riemerschmid was involved in the founding of the Garden City Asssociation. In 1907 Richard Riemerschmid joined forces with Peter Behrens, Peter Bruckmann, Josef Maria Olbrich, Fritz Schumacher, and Hermann Muthesius to found the Deutscher Werkbund. From 1907 until 1913 Richard Riemerschmid was in charge of planning the buildings of the first German garden city, in Dresden-Hellerau, including a number of artists' studios and the Deutsche Werkstätten factory building. From 1909 Richard Riemerschmid was also involved in building the Nuremberg garden city. In 1913 Richard Riemerschmid was appointed director of the Munich Kunstgewerbeschule; from 1925 until 1931 he was director of the Cologne Werkschulen. In 1927 Richard Riemerschmid designed the radio building for "Deutsche Stunde in Bayern"; he also designed the interiors of the three broadcasting studios. At the 1928 "Pressa" exhibition in Cologne, Richard Riemerschmid built the pavilion for the Reckendorf publishing house. Richard Riemerschmid is one of the most important exponents of German Jugendstil in his multiple capacities as an interior decorator, furniture designer, and architect. As a co-founder of the Deutscher Werkbund and similar associations, Richard Riemerschmid played a crucial role in shaping the design of German homes and the German lifestyle during the early decades of the 20th century.