He was the son of chemist Anton Schrötter von Kristelli, and father to physician Hermann Schroetter-Kristelli (1870–1928).

In 1881 he was appointed Primararzt (primary physician) at the General Hospital, and in 1890 was named professor and director of the third medical clinic in Vienna.

In addition to his expertise in the field of laryngology, Schrötter is remembered for his work involving diseases of the heart and lungs.

He was a driving force in construction of the Alland Lungenheilanstalt (lung clinic), an institution that began attending to patients in 1898.

Among his written works is a treatise on heart diseases that was included in Hugo Wilhelm von Ziemssen's Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie.