After the Flight and expulsion of Germans in 1946 and a short stay in the Kleinwelka camp near Bautzen, he passed his Abitur in Großenhain in 1947.
In 1952, he moved to the Free University of Berlin, where he completed his studies in 1953 with the dissertation Hörbare Vorbilder in der Instrumentalmusik bis 1750.
In the winter semester of 1962/63, he moved to the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz as a research assistant at the Musicological Institute.
There he habilitated in 1967 with a thesis on the Geschichte des Streichtrios (Mainzer Studien zur Musikwissenschaft 2, Tutzing 1969) and became a private lecturer in musicology and music history.
Among the offices and honorary posts that have not been filled, those for the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für mittelrheinische Musikgeschichte (1974-1980) and the Stiftung Kulturwerk Schlesien in Würzburg stand out.