Arnold Bode is known to the art world as the spiritual father and initiator of the documenta art exhibition, which has been held in Kassel since 1955. Less well known is his private life, his work as an artist and designer, as an interior designer and urban planner. Born in 1900, he had his first successes as a painter and curator after studying art in Kassel. His professional start in 1930 at the Werklehrerseminar in Berlin, however, soon ended with a professional ban under National Socialism. With the help of his family, he made a living as an interior decorator. After the Second World War, he was able to demonstrate considerable success in trade fair construction. He was one of the founders of the Werkakademie, which was re-founded in 1947. There he was first a lecturer in painting, then professor from 1963 to 1969. His further life was marked by the documenta, founded in 1955, which occupied him until the end of his life. Sylvia Stöbe has compiled the memories of family members still living, contemporary witnesses and information from other sources to create a biography of Arnold Bode.