• 1892, 15 May
  born in Mainz, son of the carpenter Josef Schneider
• 1898-1906
  school education in Mainz
• 1906-1909
  apprenticeship with the architect Secker in Mainz
• 1909-1911
  School of Art and Crafts in Mainz, diploma with honours
• late 1911-1912
  worked in the studio of Lussow & Kühne, Dresden
• 1912-1914
  worked in the studio of Walter Gropius, Berlin
• 1915-1916
  worked in the studio of Peter Behrens, Berlin
• Sept. 1916-Nov. 1919
  military service, war, captivity
• 1920
  worked in the studio of Heinr. Straumer, Berlin
• 1920
  marriage to Emma Leon, two children
• from 01.05.1921
  independent architect in Hamburg

After an initial lack of commissions, he found extensive work in the mid-1920s. This period saw Karl Schneider produce the predominant body of his work, employing some 30 to 40 staff.

In 1929, the staff of the Hamburg State School of Art unanimously elected Karl Schneider director of the school. However, the Hamburg Senate refused to endorse his nomination and appointed Max Sauerlandt to the position instead. In 1930, Karl Schneider was appointed for a five-year tenure as professor and director of the faculty of architectural design at the State School of Art. On 21 April 1933, he was suspended without specified reason and on 1 September dismissed. On political and economic grounds his practice was shut down in October 1933. In 1935 he was divorced from Emma Leon.

In January 1938, he left for Chicago, following his partner Ursula Wolff, who had already emigrated to the US in 1937. His entire possessions left behind in Hamburg, including his library, all his drawings and models, were burnt in 1943 during an air raid.

In the United States, Walter Gropius, W.C. Behrendt and Lewis Mumford endeavoured in 1938 to promote Schneider’s professional advancement. From 1938 to 1945, Karl Schneider was employed as a designer at Sears, Roebuck & Co. The modest pay imposed a more frugal lifestyle and led to debts. On 15 May 1945, he found his first, better-paid job as an architect with Loebl & Schlossman in Chicago; but this came to an end in September due to a further heavy bout of heart disease.

In 1942 Karl Schneider and Ursula Wolff married in Chicago.

On 11 December 1945, Karl Schneider died of his heart condition.