In 1840, at the age of seventeen, he began his studies with Professor Wilhelm Herbig and, upon his recommendation, attended the Prussian Academy of Art from 1841 to 1845.

Over the next thirty years, he continued to travel frequently; visiting the North Sea, Norway, Wales, the Isle of Wight, Jersey and Brittany, among other places.

All of these trips produced numerous sketches that were later turned into oil paintings, although he also did some work en plein aire.

[1] Among his most familiar works are those created together with his son, Richard Eschke [de], for the "Kaiserpanorama": The German Fleet on Display at Zanzibar, and The Seizure of New Guinea.

His students included Louis Douzette, Ernst Koerner, Walter Moras, Carl Saltzmann, Alexander Kircher and Elisabeth Reuter.