Elisabeth Treskow was born in Bochum, Germany in 1898 and studied at the Hagener silversmiths institute.  She also attended metalworking classes at the Folkwangschule in Essen (now the Department of Art and Design of the Folkwang University of the Arts) where she also learned painting and drawing.  She then went to study at Schwäbisch-Gmünd under the instruction of Professor Walter Klein.  She then apprenticed to the renowned goldsmith Karl Rothmüller in Munich while still in school.  After graduating she returned to Bochum in 1919, and set up her workshop at her parents’ house.  In 1923 she moved to Margarethenhöhe in Essen to open a larger studio.  In 1937 she was awarded a gold medal at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques in Paris and from 1948 – 1964 she taught at the Technical College in Cologne.  She passed away in 1992.