He received his early education at his father's school, and in 1831 entered the Jesuit novitiate in Graz.
After completing his novitiate and the study of rhetoric and philosophy, he taught for three years in the lower forms of the Gymnasium.
On his return to Graz he taught rhetoric, and subsequently, during the confusion caused by the revolution of 1848, held the position of tutor in a noble Westphalian family.
He continued his efforts in Austria in 1852, and his sermons in Vienna led the emperor to express a desire to see him.
Here from 1859 to 1872, in which year his strength began to fail, Klinkowström continued his preaching activity.