Living on her own from the age of 17, hers was a stressful life in a society still judgmental of female independence. In her early 30s, she was hospitalized for what has been described as a nervous breakdown. While hospitalized, she was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, although the basis of this diagnosis remains unclear.

During her hospital stay, she drew portraits of fellow patients and herself in a series later referred to as “Friedrichsberg Heads”.

With the diagnosis of schizophrenia, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler fell under the National Socialist “Hereditary Health Act”. After her divorce in 1935, she was incapacitated and forcibly sterilized, regardless of her protests and requests from her family.

The National Socialists branded her work with the stigma of “degenerate.”  Nine of her works were represented at the “Degenerate Art” exhibition in 1937. 

On July 31, 1940 Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler was gassed at the age of 40 in the Pirna-Sonnenstein killing center as part of the “T4” euthanasia program.