He was born in Samitz (Zamienice) near Haynau (Chojnów) in Silesia (then part of Prussia, since 1945 in Poland), and died in Munich.

He interpreted the physiological effects observed by Luigi Galvani and other researchers as due to the electricity generated by chemical reactions.

In 1800, shortly after the invention of the voltaic pile, William Nicholson and Anthony Carlisle discovered that water could be decomposed by electricity.

[4][5] Ritter made several self-experiments applying the poles of a voltaic pile to his own hands, eyes, ears, nose and tongue.

For instance: he reported that the Earth had electric poles that could be detected by the motion of a bimetallic needle; and he claimed that he could produce the electrolysis of water using a series of magnets, instead of Volta's piles.

Plagued by financial difficulties and suffering from weak health (perhaps aggravated by his electrical self-experimentation),[citation needed] he died young in 1810, as a poor man.