Born in Mokrin, Rudolf Paul Hirschenhauser attended the General School of Painting and the Special School of Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1901 to 1907. In 1914 Rudolf Hirschenhauser left the Jewish Community and converted to Protestantism (Augsburg Confession). His marriage to Hedwig Karoline Sofie Mina Marx, which took place on 10 March 1914 in the Lutheran City Church in Vienna, produced two daughters. From 1924 to 1930, the family lived in the 3rd district of Vienna, and in 1930 Rudolf Hirschenhauser moved to Mödling near Vienna in Lower Austria. In 1932 Hedwig and Rudolf Hirschenhauser divorced due to "insurmountable dislike" and Hedwig married the lawyer Adolf Rziha in the same year. From October 1932 until his deregistration to London in August 1939, Rudolf Hirschenhauser lived in Eitelbergergasse in Vienna's 13th district.

Persecuted as a Jew during the Nazi era, Rudolf Hirschenhauser was targeted by the Property Transaction Office at the end of 1938. Since he received a monthly pension from his divorced wife and had not disclosed these assets in the Vermögensanmeldung (declaration of assets), which had been obligatory for Jews since April 26, 1938, charges were filed with the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in January 1939. The indictment shows that Rudolf Hirschenhauser had financial difficulties. The sale of a print by Gerhard Janssen to the Albertina at the end of March 1939 seems to have been motivated by the existing financial emergency. At the end of June 1939, Rudolf Hirschenhauser finally applied to the Zentralstelle für Denkmalschutz (Central Monument Protection Authority) for the authorization of export of his own works and a few other undefined art objects to London. He settled in Harrogate/North Yorkshire, where he died on 1 November 1951. He remained in contact with one of his two daughters, but never returned to Vienna.

On 5 October 2017, the Art Restitution Advisory Board recommended the return of the print from the Albertina's collection to Rudolf Hirschenhauser's legal successors. The community of heirs identified by the Jewish Community Vienna decided to offer the print to the Albertina for repurchase. The return and repurchase of the print finally took place at the Albertina on 20 January 2023.