Walter Tiemann was born in Delitzsch near Leipzig and studied painting in Leipzig and Paris.
He published works in critical support of the book medium already as early as 1901, subsequently evolving from an illustrator to a book and type designer. He worked primarily for the publishing houses Insel Verlag and Fischer Verlag. Tiemann's numerous type designs were cut and published by the Karl Klingspor type foundry in Offenbach.

In 1907, together with Carl Ernst Poeschel, Tiemann founded the 'Janus Press', the first private press in Germany, modelled on British presses. Already in 1903, Walter Tiemann had been appointed as a professor at the Royal Academy of Graphic Art and Book Craft (now Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst). One of his most reputed students was Jan Tschichold, one of the most signi?cant 20th century exponents of modern typography.

Under Walter Tiemann's direction from 1920 until 1941, the Leipzig Academy gained a world wide reputation as an institution specialising in book art. After the end of World War II, he brie?y directed the Academy again, propagating, during the remaining years of his life, a style of bookmaking that continued the great traditions of the past.