The painter, drawer, book illustrator, set designer, and writer Bele Bachem (specifically Renate Gabriele Böhmer) was born on May 17, 1916, in Düsseldorf. Toward the end of the 1920's, she left her hometown to study at the art academy in Berlin.
Within a short time, her works found critical acclaim, so that she obtained her first commissions in Berlin. Later Bachem moved to Munich to work as a theater set designer. During the time of the Nazi regime, she was not able to work but began again shortly after the end of the Second World War.
Her drawings were published in magazines such as "Der Simpl" and she continued working as a set designer for various theaters. Besides her theater work, Bele Bachem wrote and illustrated books and produced film posters. She also worked as a lecturer in Munich. She is considered one of the most important female German artists after the war and the only female surrealist of German post-war literature.
Bele Bachem died on June 5, 2005, in Munich.