About Franz Pohl
Lived 1864 – 1920 (aged 55–56). Franz Pohl was a German artist.
Franz Pohl (1868–1940) was the pseudonym of Franz Karl Bühler, a schizophrenic outsider artist and one of the "schizophrenic masters" profiled by Hans Prinzhorn in his field-defining work Artistry of the Mentally Ill.
Bühler was a metalsmith by trade until 1898. He remained in an asylum for the rest of his life. As he "receded into an autistic existence", he produced a large number of drawings and writings. Bühler's work was especially appealing to Prinzhorn for its Expressionist character. When Prinzhorn published some of Bühler's drawings in 1922 in Artistry of the Mentally Ill, he gave Bühler the pseudonym "Franz Pohl".
In 1940, Bühler was killed during the first Nazi mass-murder programme, Aktion T4, targeting the mentally ill. He was murdered in "a specially adapted home for disabled people at Grafeneck castle, in Swabia."
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Important facts
People in Franz Pohl's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Franz Pohl's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Franz Pohl?
German artist
When was Franz Pohl born?
Franz Pohl was born in 1864.
When did Franz Pohl die?
Franz Pohl died in 1920.
What was Franz Pohl's occupation?
Franz Pohl was an artist.
What nationality was Franz Pohl?
Franz Pohl was German.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Franz Pohl. https://biography.guide/franz-pohl/
MLA: "Franz Pohl." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/franz-pohl/.
Chicago: "Franz Pohl." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/franz-pohl/.
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