 He attended the University in Frankfurt am Main, then travelled to Bonn, Berlin, and Göttingen.When he returned to Frankfurt am Main in 1839 von Heyden showed him Philipp Christoph Zeller's "Attempt at a Classification of the Tineinae" which had just appeared in Oken's "Isis".Until this publication, this group of moths had been hopelessly confused and Frey was impressed by Zeller's orderly arrangement.