Bernhard Pankok (1872) was born in Münster, Germany and was known as a painter, architect, designer and graphic artist. He started out with an apprenticeship as a sculptor and painter and studied painting in both Berlin and Düsseldorf, before opening a studio in Munich in 1892. From then on he worked as a freelance artist, including working as an illustrator/graphic artist for magazines Jugend and PAN

He was appointed to the Royal Teaching and Experimental Workshop in Stuttgart in 1901 where he stayed till 1913. During this time he also started his career in architecture, constructing Haus Lange, Tübingen. He was also a co-founder of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907.

His diverse work is often characterised as showcasing the transition from Art Nouveau towards the International Style, while his book/furniture design garnered him ample recognition – an example being the catalog for the German section of the Exposition Universelle (1900) in Paris.

He founded the Vereinigte Werkstätten with colleagues Peter Behrens and Richard Riemerschmid