He attended the University of Munich where he studied classical philology.
Inspired by Johann Andreas Schmeller, he turned his attention to the German language, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Würzburg in 1854.
From 1855 to 1857, he was an editor for a Berlin publisher, where he oversaw the development of an encyclopedia.
In 1857 he was made a full professor of German language and literature at the University of Prague, where he remained until his retirement in 1899.
[1][2] His work on Otfrid von Weissenburg includes: His work on Notker Labeo is no less important: in general it aims to prove that the writings bearing his name are not by a school or group of translators, but by Notker alone.