His father was a building official. In 1877, he began his studies in architecture at the
Technical University in Vienna. His professors there included
Heinrich von Ferstel and . In order to gain more creative training, he enrolled at the
Academy of Fine Arts and studied with
Friedrich von Schmidt. From 1889 to 1899, he was a professor of decorative architecture at the
Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, and was involved in several restoration projects, all while training numerous future architects, including
Vladimír Fischer, Bedrich Bendelmeyer, and Álois Dryak. In 1898, together with , he created designs for all the bridges and their associated structures on the
Wien River, then returned to Vienna to oversee the construction. He served as the artistic director for the
Neue Hofburg from 1899 to 1907. His projects included the
Palmenhaus, a greenhouse near the
Burggarten, and the monument to
Empress Elisabeth of Austria, in the
Volksgarten, with a statue by
Hans Bitterlich. From 1904, he was the head of the master class for architecture at the Fine Arts Academy. Early in 1918, he presented the first drafts for a large monument dedicated to Emperor
Franz Joseph I, which he thought would be a logical addition to the
Votivkirhe, but the project was never pursued after the war. He was given an
Ehrengrab ("honorary grave") by the City of Vienna. A street in Vienna's
Döbling district is named after him. ==References==