His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross), a singer and teacher of piano, and Heribert Ringmann, a conductor and musicologist in Breslau and Posen.

[4] Wallydore Eschenbach (née Jaross), his mother's cousin, adopted him in 1946 and began to teach him to play the piano from 1948 through 1959.

In 1955, Eschenbach enrolled at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, studying piano with Hans-Otto Schmidt-Neuhaus and conducting with Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg.

He then pursued studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Eliza Hansen (piano) and Wilhelm Brückner-Rüggeberg (conducting).

The orchestra toured Japan and Europe under his tenure as well made several recordings with Koch International Classics and RCA.

Eschenbach is credited with helping and supporting talented young musicians in their career development, including soprano Renée Fleming, pianists Tzimon Barto and Lang Lang, cellists Claudio Bohórquez [de], and Daniel Müller-Schott, and soprano Marisol Montalvo.

'"[8] In a 2004 article, Eschenbach tried to downplay such statements, and noted his own particular style of interpretation: Partway into his tenure, his initial 3-year contract was renewed to 2008.

In the weeks prior to his departure, Philadelphia Inquirer music critics Peter Dobrin and David Patrick Stearns produced contrasting articles whether or not he should be retained, with Dobrin suggesting that Eschenbach should move on[12] and Stearns arguing that Eschenbach should remain.

A quote from this letter condemned Dobrin's criticism: Dobrin, in turn, responded in a 29 October 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer article by quoting one of his 2001 Inquirer articles around the time of the Eschenbach announcement: This contrasts with earlier reports of how the musicians "had input" in the choice of the previous Philadelphia music director, Wolfgang Sawallisch.

In November 2017, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin announced the appointment of Eschenbach as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.

[31] In January 2022, the Copenhagen Philharmonic announced the appointment of Eschenbach as its æres-gæstedirigent (honorary guest conductor), for a period of two seasons, following his debut with the orchestra in the autumn of 2021.