 He studied medicine in Bonn, and later became prosector and conservator of the pathological museum at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, where he was mentor to Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902).He held these position at the Charité from 1833 until 1846, and supplemented his income as a teacher of anatomic drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts.In 1847 he was succeeded by Virchow as prosector at the Charité.