Springweiler's father was a goldsmith and the future sculpture began his own working life as a metalworker. He soon decided on a more artistic career, however, and went to Munich where, before and after World War I, he studied art with Hermann Hahn and Fritz Wolber. He spent two years in Havana, Cuba, and in 1924 went to New York where he continued his studies at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design. He also worked for Paul Manship and Herbert Haseltine.
During the 1930s, Springweiler was employed by the Federal Works Agency and modeled a number of animal figures for the organization. These included reliefs and the Giant Anteater (1938) for the National Zoo in Washington; a group of goats for the Federal Building at the 1939 New York World's Fair; and a number of works for several regional post offices. Animals continued to be his favorite models after World War II and he won a number of awards for his efforts. He also designed a selection of medals for the government as well as for the Society of Medallists. He later worked at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire and as an industrial designer.
He exhibited his work at the National Academy beginning in 1937 and continued to do so on a steady basis for the remainder of his life. He won the Ellin Speyer Memorial Prize here in 1938 for a version of Anteater (cat. no. 257); the Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize in 1949 for Cubs at Play (cat. no. 30); and the Speyer Prize again in 1959 for Doves on Perch (cat. no. 36).
