After finishing school in 1946, he went on to study, first at the University of Leipzig and then at Technische Universität Berlin.
He was a lecturer in the university's Engineering Department till 1964 and worked as a freelancer for the German Association of Consumer Organisations.
He was appointed Head of the Technology Department of Stiftung Warentest shortly after it was established in 1964 and as such, he played a major role in its development to a successful and internationally recognised institution.
In 1988 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (First Class).
In Germany he is generally considered to be "the father of the comparative testing of goods".