After completing his course at the University of Vienna, where he studied philology and law, he engaged in business with his father.
In 1866 he became teacher of German at a commercial school at Prague, and was at the same time member of the editorial staff of "Bohemia."
In 1873 he went to Vienna, where he became dramatic critic for the "Deutsche Zeitung," and, subsequently, teacher of the history of literature at the Handelsakademie.
Heller published "Ahasverus," an epic poem on the Wandering Jew, Leipzig, 1866 (2d ed., ib.
He died in Vienna After Heller's death his translations of medieval Hebrew poems were edited by his friend David Kaufmann and published under the title "Die Echten Hebräischen Melodien," Treves, 1892 (2d ed., Breslau, 1903).