His best-known work is the first functional "European" transistor, which he developed and patented together with Heinrich Welker in the vicinity of Paris in 1948, at the same time and independently from the Bell Labs engineers. The final 20 years of his life Mataré split time between his homes in Hückelhoven, Germany and Malibu, California. Born in Aachen, he was the nephew of the sculptor Ewald Mataré (1887–1965) and father of architect Vitus Mataré (1955.)