H. Ricke studied architecture from 1920 to 1925 at Leibniz University Hannover where he was influenced by the Bauhaus.
[1] After obtaining his Diplom in 1925, he worked in Egypt from 1926 to 1928 under the direction of Ludwig Borchardt[2] on the publication of excavations undertaken at Tel al-Amarna by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (German oriental society), which had been interrupted by the first world war.
[1] Thanks to his work Der Grundriss des Amarna-Wohnhauses (The plan of dwellings at Amarna), he received his doctorate under the supervision of Uvo Hölscher at Leibniz University Hannover.
[1] From 1950 onwards he led the institute as a research expert together with its executive director Dr. Étienne Combe.
[1] In 1957 he became the scientific director of the institute and worked in Khor-Dehmit and Beit el-Wali (1960–61), Giza (1965–67) and again in Thebes (1964 and 1970).