He was born in Jena, the son of the Baltic-German historian Alexander Brückner and Lucie Schiele.

After an education at the Karlsruhe gymnasium, beginning in 1881 he studied meteorology and physics at the University of Dorpat, graduating in 1885.

He joined the Deutsche Seewarte (German Hydrographic Office) in Hamburg, then, following studies at Dresden and Munich, he became a professor at the University of Bern in 1888.

[1] Between 1901–1909 he collaborated with German geographer and geologist Albrecht Penck to produce a three volume work titled Die Alpen im Eiszeitalter (The Alps in the Ice Age).

[2] Brückner was a proponent of the importance of climate change, including the effects on the economy and social structure of society.