In 1854, he obtained his medical doctorate from the University of Dorpat, where shortly afterwards he served as an assistant to Friedrich Heinrich Bidder (1810–1894).

In 1856–1857 he took a scientific journey to Vienna, Berlin and Göttingen, an extended trip in which he studied physiology with Emil Du Bois-Reymond (1818–1896) and Johannes Peter Müller (1801–1858).

He conducted studies on the development of the brain, spleen, pancreas and kidneys, also performing research involving innervation of exocrine gland and doing investigations on early differentiation of mesoderm.

While Bidder's assistant at Dorpat, he studied structures of the central nervous system, and during his tenure at Königsberg, he had the opportunity to examine the cranium of philosopher Immanuel Kant.

[3] Shortly afterwards, pathologist Tadeusz Browicz (1847-1928) from Jagellonian University in Kraków, correctly identified them as macrophages.