 After hearing the lectures of Justus von Liebig in his first semester, he decided to study chemistry.Following four years of study in Giessen and a brief compulsory military service, he took temporary assistantships in Paris (1851–52), in Chur, Switzerland (1852–53), and in London (1853–55), where he was decisively influenced by Alexander Williamson.His Giessen doctoral degree was awarded in the summer of 1852.