Brudermann began his training at the Kadettenanstalt (Cadet Institute) in Hainburg an der Donau and attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt from 1865 to 1869.

On 1 September 1869 he was commissioned as a Leutnant (lieutenant) and assigned to Imperial and Royal Uhlan Regiment "Alexander II, Emperor of Russia" No.

At his own request, he was transferred on 1 April 1878 to the reserve list as a member of Imperial and Royal Uhlan Regiment "Prince of Schwarzenberg" No.

From 1880 to 1884 he acted as an instructor in the cavalry cadet school at Mährisch-Weißkirchen in Moravia and was then assigned to Imperial and Royal Dragoon Regiment "Prince to Windisch-Graetz" No.

He received the Order of the Iron Crown Third Class in March 1895, a standard award for three years of satisfactory service in command of a regiment.

Brudermann was an enthusiastic cavalry commander who had never seen combat and whose military experience was limited to maneuvers and what he had read in field manuals.

As general inspector of cavalry, he was determined to retain the tactics and ethos of an earlier era even as warfare changed around him in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Despite this change, the Austro-Hungarian Army's cavalry force entered combat in World War I in late July 1914 still heavily influenced by Brudermann's beliefs.

After the conclusion of World War I in 1918, and particularly after about 1930, his military mistakes and failures were largely forgotten in the First Austrian Republic, and he was a popular figure when he appeared in uniform at veterans events.