After a commercial apprenticeship, Schäfer, who was born in Bülach, did an additional apprenticeship as a station clerk at the Swiss Federal Railways. From 1956 he lived in Wallisellen, where he recorded village life with his pen and ink drawings and articles. From 1950 on, he also produced numerous reliefs, mostly on a scale of 1:50 000 and slightly exaggerated. He received commissions from various municipalities to produce reliefs. The largest work was a relief of the municipality of Wallisellen with an area of 12 m², which was to serve as the basis for local planning. Presumably it no longer exists today.

[1] This article bases on Mair, Toni. Grieder, Susanne. Das Landschaftsrelief – Symbiose von Wissenschaft und Kunsthandwerk. Mit Schweizer Reliefkatalog. Verlag hier+jetzt. Baden, Schweiz. 2006. S.167.