Schultheiss studied at the School for Arts and Crafts in Nuremberg and at the Munich Academy under Wilhelm von Diez. He married Alice Trier in 1914. He came to the United States in 1940.
In Nuremberg, Schultheiss did book illustration and fresco painting, decorating churches and homes. His etching and engraving work is comprised mainly of pastorial subjects. His rustic scenes of the country often feature laborers at work; they are engaging yet avoid sentimentality. He sought tonal rather than linear effects. In the 1951s he began to experiment with printing in color.
Schultheiss was nominated to the NAD by Ernest D. Roth. He submitted the following prints to qualify as Academician: The Blind Beggar, Off To the Market, Adam and Eve, Horses, In the Evening, and The Suckling Pig. Off To the Market was awarded the John Taylor Arms Prize at the 29th Annual Exhibition of the Society of American Etchers.