Background
Gröger was the son of a tailor in Plön, where he grew up in modest circumstances.
Gröger was the son of a tailor in Plön, where he grew up in modest circumstances.
From 1789 he studied at Berlin"s Akademie der Künste. He and Aldenrath then went together to Hamburg, then on a joint study trip to Dresden and Paris, then back to Lübeck, where he worked until 1807. They then alternated between Hamburg, Copenhagen, Kiel and Lübeck, before finally settling in Hamburg in 1814.
Gröger developed from a miniature painter into a portrait painter, who towards the end of his life preferred three quarter bust portraits.
Aldenrath took over the miniature painting side of their joint business. After lithography developed in northern Germany, they both worked in this medium individually as well as jointly under the business name Firma Gröger & Aldenrath.
In 1792 Gröger was made an honorary member of the Gesellschaft zur Beförderung gemeinnütziger Tätigkeit in Lübeck.