As a young man, he heeded the advice of his fellow countryman, the landscapist Ernst Willers, and went to Vienna in late 1855 in order to enroll at the private art school for the monumental paintings founded four years earlier by Carl Rahl.
In his youth, he followed the advice of his fellow countryman, the landscapist Ernst Willers, and went to Vienna in December 1855 to join the private art school for large-scale paintings that Carl Rahl had established four years earlier.