"After studying law for a short time, he studied chemistry in Heidelberg, Breslau, Munich and Berlin.

From 1897 he was assistant at the Pharmacological Institute in Berlin, from 1902 assistant at the Pharmaceutical Institute and "Titularprofessor". In 1911 he became an associate professor and in 1929 a full professor.

He held many patents in cellulose chemistry and salts of metal complexes."

He was arrested by the Gestapo and died in prison in Berlin. He is buried in Berlin's Weissensee Cemetery; there is no memorial stone.