Trained as a pharmacist in Magdeburg and Weimar, he later studied medicine at the University of Jena, where he obtained his doctorate in 1764.

[1] As his career progressed, he received the posts of Hof-Medikus (court physician, 1777) and Bergrat (counsellor of mines, 1782).

[2] He was a friend and consultant to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on the matter of scientific issues.

Goethe observed Bucholz's attempt to build a Montgolfier balloon.

[3] Reportedly, the two men conducted water purification experiments through the use of powdered charcoal.