[1] He studied sciences at the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg, receiving his doctorate in 1873 with a thesis on phyllosoma.
As a student he had as instructors, Friedrich Wöhler, Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen.
In 1886, he was named vice-director of the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, where three years later, he was appointed first director.
[2] While on a scientific excursion to the Taunus Mountains in 1900, he developed an interest in tardigrades, subsequently publishing numerous papers on the phylum.
He is credited with the discovery of many tardigrade species, including a number from the genus Diphascon.