In 1896 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Munich, then spent the following year as an assistant to his uncle, Heinrich von Ranke (1830–1909), at the pediatric clinic in Munich.
Following his return to Germany, he spent two additional years as an assistant in the pediatric clinic, then relocated to Arosa, Switzerland, where he worked as a doctor in a tuberculosis sanatorium.
[1][2] In 1906, he returned to Munich, where he practiced pediatrics, and specialized in diseases of the lung.
In 1915 he earned his habilitation in internal medicine at Munich, and in 1921 became an associate professor.
[1] His name is also associated with the so-called "Ranke complex", defined as a combination of late fibrocalcific lesions of the lung and lymph node that evolve from the Ghon complex.