Based in Düsseldorf, he focused on sacred art for churches, including a marble Pietà for St. Gereon in Cologne in a style close to the Nazarene movement.

Born in Düsseldorf, Reiss was the third child of Carl Peter Josef Reiß, who worked then as a coachman, and Sophie Henriette Fink.

[4][5] He received his training as a sculptor from Julius Bayerle (1826–1873),[2]: 22  who later established the first studio for sculpture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under the direction of Wilhelm von Schadow.

He also attended Karl Ferdinand Sohn's antiquities class from 1854 to 1855 and received lessons in anatomy and proportions from Heinrich Mücke.

[11] He created a new Calvary next to Düsseldorf's St. Lambertus [de], replacing a late-Gothic group sculpture of seven figures which had fallen into disrepair.