His father was a merchant, who wanted him to take up a career in business, but he wanted to be an engraver. After acceding to his father's wishes and saving a small sum of money, he was finally given permission to pursue his own goals. Accordingly, in 1781, he left home for Dresden, to study engraving. He then returned to Greiz, where he practiced his new profession until 1788. At that time, he moved to Weimar, seeking greater opportunities. There, he became acquainted with Goethe, who encouraged him to learn stone cutting. Working with information provided by Goethe, he made his own tools and machines, but discovered that his skills were not quite up to the task. As a result, he went back to Dresden to take lessons from the stone cutter, Gottfried Benjamin Tettelbach (1750-1813).
