Christian Dell was born in Offenbach am Main in Hesse. He completed the silver forging studies at the academy in 1911 and from 1912-13 he studied at the Saxon college of arts and crafts in Weimar. From 1922 to 1925 he worked as a foreman of the metal workshop at the Bauhaus in Weimar where he was the man behind a highly innovative and pioneering style of design.