With assistance from Heinrich Friedrich Link (1767–1851) he began his studies at the University of Berlin in 1811.
After concluding his university studies, he taught classes at several schools in Berlin and Frankfurt an der Oder.
Ruthe issued the exsiccata work Flora der Mittelmark in getrockneten Exemplaren (1820–1822).
Also in 1976, botanists A.Hansen & G.Kunkel published Rutheopsis, a genus of flowering plants from the Canary Islands belonging to the family Apiaceae, also named in his honour.
[5] Among his written works was a textbook on zoology, "Handbuch der Zoologie", that was co-authored with Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann (1802–1841).