Boëllmann was born in Ensisheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, the son of a pharmacist. In 1871, at the age of nine, he entered the École de Musique Classique et Religieuse (L'École Niedermeyer) in Paris, where he studied with its director, Gustave Lefèvre, and with Eugène Gigout. There, Boëllmann won first prizes in piano, organ, counterpoint, fugue, plainsong, and composition. After his graduation in 1881, Boëllmann was hired as "organiste de choeur" at the Church of St. Vincent de Paul in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, and six years later he became cantor and "organiste titulaire", a position he held until his early death, probably from tuberculosis.