 He received his education at the gymnasiums in Göttingen and Erfurt, where he was a student of Franz Ernst Heinrich Spitzner.From 1824 to 1827 he studied classical philology at the universities of Göttingen and Halle, obtaining his doctorate with the dissertation ""De Aeschyli Prometheo soluto"".At Halle he was especially influenced by the teachings of Christian Karl Reisig.