He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and became a military surgeon for the Dutch army, stationed in Java in 1853. He studied invertebrates and plants extensively, and described many arachnids and insects, notably diptera. In 1852, he published the work Systematisches Verzeichniß der im Kaiserthum Österreich vorkommenden Spinnen. He spent the last half of his life mostly in the island of Ambon.
