Fridl (Frieda/Frederike) Dicker-Brandeis, born in 1898 in Vienna, Austria, was raised by her single father, a clerk in a paper goods store who encouraged her early interest in art by providing her with drawing materials.

From 1912 to 1914, Dicker studied at the Vienna School of Experimental Graphic Design, where she earned a degree in photography. In 1915, she joined the textile department at the School of Applied Arts. A year later, she began studying with Johannes Itten at his private school. When Itten was appointed as a master at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Dicker followed him there in 1919. She thrived during her four years at the Bauhaus, becoming the first student permitted to teach others and earning a rare scholarship that covered her tuition.

One of her closest collaborators and longtime romantic partner was Franz Singer. Together, they worked on dozens of projects, including set and costume designs for the theater company “Die Truppe.” After completing their studies at the Bauhaus in 1923, Dicker and Singer opened the Fine Arts Workshop in Berlin-Friedenau. They sold weavings, textiles, and jewellery, along with works by other former Bauhaus artists. Although the workshop closed in 1925, they continued collaborating on architecture and interior design projects until 1931, when Dicker started her own studio. She then focused on teaching art and became active in political resistance against the rising fascist party.

In 1934, Dicker was arrested at a communist protest against the Starhemberg Putsch. After being bailed out by Singer, she fled to Prague, where she continued her art and resistance work. In 1936, she married her cousin Pavel Brandeis, and they moved to North Bohemia. In 1938, she was offered a chance to flee to Palestine because of her Jewish heritage, but she declined since her husband wasn’t included.

In 1942, both were deported to Theresienstadt. There, Dicker worked as a caregiver in a girls' home, where she continued teaching art to children, having brought most of her art supplies. In October 1944, Brandeis received a deportation notice for Auschwitz, where Dicker followed him voluntarily. She was killed in Auschwitz shortly after arriving, while her husband survived until the camps were liberated. (ss)