Herbert Breiter, painter and lithographer, was born on February 21, 1927, in Landeshut in lower Silesia, which today is known as Kamienna Góra, Poland. He registered for the entrance examination at the Dresden Art Academy in 1944 but was drafted into Hitler’s Wehrmacht. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, Breiter moved to Austria and applied to the Salzburg School of Applied Arts but never followed through. He was an autodidactic artist who found an audience for his arts and crafts work while he honed his painting skills. Breiter eventually became a student of Max Peiffer Watenphul and was influenced by his circle of friends. He was a founding member of the "Salzburg Group" and the Graphic Workshop. Breiter was granted Austrian citizenship in 1947.

In 1959, Breiter exhibited in Contemporary Graphic Art, International Exhibition at the Gallery of Contemporary Art, Salzburg. The retrospective, Herbert Breiter: 30 Years of Printmaking, was held at Faleries Welz in Salzburg in 1980. Two years later he exhibited with the Salzburg Group in Salzburg. In 1992, he was awarded the Slavi Soucek Prize for Graphic Art, which was awarded by the state of Salzburg.

Breiter is known for his landscape painting and his numerous views of Salzburg. A catalogue raisonné of his prints was published by Galerie Schmücking in 1980. Breiter died in Salzburg on October 9, 1999. In 2012, the historic Peterswacht bastion in Salzburg’s Old Town was renamed Herbert Breiter Terrace.