He was one of the five recorded children, and the eldest of the three sons, of the publisher-politician Heinrich Brockhaus (1804-1874) by his marriage to Pauline Campe (1808–86).

[2] After only two years he was entrusted with management responsibilities ("...Prokura") and became a full partner in the business when aged just twenty-five.

In 1872 was elected to the presidency of the Leipzig-based German Book Printers' Association ("Deutscher Buchdruckerverein") in succession to Albin Ackermann, holding the position continually between 1873 and 1886.

Eduard Brockhaus saw the need for some sort of structure, and in the end he was won round to Adolf Kröner's reforms, becoming a stalwart backer.

It was indeed Adolf von Kröner (ennobled in 1905) who succeeded Eduard Brockhaus as president of the Book Exchanges' Association.

Following unification, on 3 March 1871 he was elected to the Reichstag, in which he participated as an NLP member, representing the Zschopau-Marienberg-Lengefeld electoral district ("Wahlkreis 20").

He was a member of several parliamentary committees and played an important role in the formulation of press and copyright legislation.