 He spent a year as an associate pastor in Münstereifel, followed by five years service as a chaplain at the mental asylum in Siegburg.In 1834 he received his doctorate of theology at Münster, and during the following year, obtained his habilitation at the Catholic theological faculty in Bonn.From 1838 he served as pastor at the Church of St Remigius, Bonn, then in 1846 became a full professor of church history at the university.