He was the son of a master carpenter and lost his parents early, growing up in the home of an older sister.

Afterwards, he attended the Prussian Academy of Art from 1835 to 1838, where he studied with the sculptor Ludwig Wilhelm Wichmann.

[2] Two years later, he received the "Großen Staatspreis" for a figure of Merope about to kill her son Aepytus.

He broke off the trip in 1844 and returned early, having received a commission for a figure on the Schloßbrücke (Castle Bridge) in Berlin-Mitte.

In addition to his large-scale works, he also created sculptural decorations at the terracotta factory of Ernst March.