 In 1806 he received his medical doctorate from the University of Würzburg, then continued his education in Paris, where he attended lectures given by Georges Cuvier, André Marie Constant Duméril and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.Afterwards, he served as a lecturer at the University of Münster, and in 1808 relocated to the University of Giessen as a professor of anatomy and physiology.At the University of Giessen, he served as director of the botanical garden (from 1817) and zoological cabinets (from 1836).