In 1888 he received his doctorate at the University of Leipzig, and as a young assistant worked under Robert Koch (1843–1910) at the Reich Health Office in Berlin. From 1894 he worked as a privat-docent of surgery in Leipzig, where in 1896 he became an associate professor.
In 1888, he received his doctorate from the University of Leipzig. As a junior researcher, he worked under Robert Koch (1843–1910) at the Reich Health Office in Berlin. From 1894, he taught surgery part-time in Leipzig and became an associate professor in 1896.