 He studied medicine at the University of Giessen, where his teachers included his father, anatomist Johann Bernhard Wilbrand (1779–1846) and his uncle, obstetrician Ferdinand von Ritgen.After graduation (1833), he remained at Giessen as an assistant at the surgical hospital.In 1840 he became an associate professor, and three years later, attained a full professorship in forensic medicine and hygiene at the university.