Architect, architectural historian and theorist. His father was a mason and small building contractor who encouraged him to go into architecture. After graduating from the Realgymnasium in Weimar, he studied art history and philosophy at Friedrich Wilhelm University, Berlin, 1881-1883. He spent a year of military service before pursuing architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (Berlin), and working in the office of Paul Wallot. Muthesis joined the firm Ende & Böckmann, a major Berlin architectural office.