He received his early education at Pforta, studied at Freiberg under Werner, and afterwards at Leipzig and Jena.

At Freiberg he was charged with the preparation of a geological map of Saxony, which he carried out with the aid of Bernhard von Cotta in 1846.

Early in life (1821-1822) he traveled in Norway, and his observations on that country, and his subsequent publications on crystallography, mineralogy and geology.

[1] His sketches were admired by Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Gustav Carus, who copied them to use as material for their paintings.

[3] He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1873.