He received his early education (1846–1851) studying under Christian Daniel Rauch and Ludwig Wilhelm Wichmann.

During a period of study in Italy, from 1856 to 1858, he was influenced by Arnold Böcklin and Franz von Lenbach in the direction of a naturalistic style in sculpture.

This tendency was marked in the group Borussia, executed for the facade of the exchange in Berlin, which first brought him into general notice.

That he was chosen, after competition, to execute the statue of Friedrich Schiller for the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, was a high tribute to the fame he had already acquired, and the result, one of the finest statues in the German metropolis, entirely justified his selection.

Since the year 1870, Begas dominated the plastic art in the Kingdom of Prussia, but especially in Berlin.