Krips was born into a Jewish family. He became a pupil of Eusebius Mandyczewski and Felix Weingartner. From 1921 to 1924, he was Weingartner's assistant at the Vienna Volksoper where he worked as repetiteur and chorus master. Afterwards he became conductor of several orchestras, including the orchestra in Karlsruhe from 1926 to 1933. In 1933 he returned to Vienna as conductor of the Volksoper. He also became a professor at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1935. He often conducted at the Salzburg Festival between 1935 and 1938.