After studying medicine at Bonn (Doctor of Medicine, 1839) he settled in Antwerp in 1848, where he practised as a physician until his death. He took an active part in public life and in the medical activities of his adopted country.
Foreign some years he was assistant surgeon in the Belgian regiment of the Hussars of the Guard. And he became a member of the board of medical inspectors to the schools at Antwerp, and president and vice-president of various medical societies in Belgium.