Among the architects of Chicago, Karl Martin Vitzthum, who was born in 1880 in Tutying near Munich, Germany, occupies a prominent position. After finishing high school in Freysing, Bavaria, Vitzthum studied from 1896 to 1899 at the Royal Technical Institute of Munich. As assistant of the well known German architect Thos. Fischer, he co-operated in the designing of plans for different municipal buildings of Munich.

In the United States, he worked next in the offices of prominent New York architects, among them the firm of York and Sawyer. Later he worked for Jarvis and Hunt, Chicago. In 1914, he started in business for himself, and designed many prominent buildings, among which is the Steuben Club Building. He also supervised the building's erection. Mr. Vitzthum is a member of the Steuben Club and numerous other associations.