was born in Germany in 1894. He was the son of a lithographer and at the age of 14 Floegel worked for a church decorating company which traveled throughout Germany. At 15, he worked on a freight ship sailing to Philadelphia and during off hours would paint watercolors of what he saw from the deck. Floegel later sold these watercolors to German magazines.

In 1913, when his ship docked in New York, he decided to stay, earning money by peddling his watercolors on Fifth Avenue. Later he was employed as a church decorator during the day and studied at the New York School of Industrial Art at night. Floegel also took classes in life painting at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design where he won several medals. In 1922 he won a Fellowship in painting from the American Academy in Rome which permitted him to study in that city for 3 years. His mural, The History of the World and Constellation, 1941, is at DeWitt Clinton High School, Mosholu Parkway and Paul Avenue, Bronx.


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