 Around 1886 he met the "apostle of nature" and artist Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851–1913), and joined Diefenbach's commune near Munich.On Diefenbach's behalf, he served a brief prison sentence for public nudity, earning him the name Fidus ("faithful").In 1892 he moved to Berlin, set up another commune, and worked as an illustrator on the magazine "Sphinx".