He studied history at the university of Vienna, receiving his PhD in 1862. In 1865, became a professor of history at the university of Lemberg, and in 1871 relocated as a professor to Innsbruck. In 1872, he was appointed professor at the university of Vienna, and here he was a tutor of history to the crown prince Rudolph. In 1892, he was named director of the Vienna institute for historical research, and in 1896 director of the imperial court library at Vienna. He resigned his professorial chair at Vienna in 1897.Thibaut - Zycha / edited by Walther Killy Dictionary of German Biography
