He was born in Basel and studied at the University of Basel from 1852 to 1854, and then at Würzburg and Prague, where he became a medical doctor in 1857. After further experience in Vienna, Paris and Berlin, he returned to Basel to practise medicine.
He was a founder member of the regional medical society in 1860 and took a leading role in the sanitary services in Basel, which he directed from 1872.