Otto Thiele preferred to paint city life in his hometown of Berlin: the harbours, crowded department stores, the banks of the Spree, the Siemens factories and especially the covered market halls. Around 1890, Berlin had fourteen of these iron and glass buildings, which were considered a novelty. Thiele was educated at the Berlin Academy and was taught by Lovis Corinth, among others. He also painted landscapes, especially while traveling through Norway, Holland, Italy and Spain. Much of his work was lost during World War II.