Elise Crola grew up in a wealthy banking family. Much attention was paid to art: Berlin artists came home and Elise received thorough art education, including painting lessons. After her first marriage she retired to the countryside in 1836 where she devoted herself entirely to her art: paintings (mainly landscapes and portraits), statues and ceramics. In 1840 she married the painter and graphic artist Georg Heinrich Crola (1804-1879), a happy marriage that also brought a fertile artistic connection.