The family of the writer Franz Held (Herzfeld) had been living in Switzerland since 1895, then in Aigen near Salzburg, because the father had been sentenced to prison for blasphemy. His parents disappeared in 1899 and the children were placed with a foster family. Helene Heuß, one of their mother's sisters, took Wieland and Helmut to live with her in Wiesbaden in 1905. Helmut began an apprenticeship in her husband Heinrich Heuß' bookshop, Wieland attended grammar school here. The brothers were boarded out and Wieland grew up in twelve different foster families.

Both began to write poetry and to study authors such as Jean Paul and Novalis. The painter Hermann Bouffier, head of the municipal painting and modelling school, recognized Helmut's talent and gave him lessons. However, this was not enough for him; he secretly went to Munich and studied there at the School of Arts and Crafts from 1908-11.

Wieland corresponded with the poet Else Lasker-Schüler and published his first texts in the magazine "Die Aktion". On August 12, 1914, he graduated from high school and volunteered as a medic.

Both brothers went to Berlin and came into contact with politically committed artists and writers. In 1916, they went public together with the monthly magazine "Neue Jugend" to actively work against the war. Here they printed Else Lasker-Schüler's novel "Der Malik", the title of which they adopted for their Malik publishing house, which they founded in 1917. The publication of oppositional literature, political writings and George Grosz's portfolios repeatedly led to conflicts with the judiciary. Wieland took care of the publishing business, while Helmut, who called himself John Heartfield in protest against anti-British nationalism in Germany, designed book covers and graphics. At the turn of the year 1918/19, the Herzfeld brothers and George Grosz joined the newly founded German Communist Party. In 1920, the three of them appeared at the "First International Dada Fair" in Berlin. In his book "Tragigrotesken der Nacht: Träume" (1920), Herzfelde also describes dreams relating to Wiesbaden, mentioning Bierstadt and Klarenthal. Heartfield worked as a stage designer and in 1930 became a contributor to the "Arbeiter-Illustrierten-Zeitung", in which his political photomontages appeared until 1938.

In 1933, the brothers fled to Prague, where Wieland Herzfelde continued his publishing activities with works by Ilya Ehrenburg and Bertolt Brecht. In 1938, they fled to London, where Heartfield stayed and Herzfelde emigrated to New York. In 1949, Herzfelde became Professor of Literature at the University of Leipzig, where Heartfield also went.

Both brothers worked for publishers, theaters and organizations in the GDR and later moved to Berlin. Wieland Herzfelde wrote poems, essays and stories, including his memoir "Immergrün. Merkwürdige Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen eines fröhlichen Waisenknaben" (1949, expanded 1968), in which he describes his formative time in Wiesbaden in detail.

Since 1995, a memorial in Wiesbaden has commemorated the Herzfeld brothers(Herzfeld Memorial).