He was born in
Dresden. His father was the
lithographer, . His older brother, , also became a lithographer and a writer. In 1852, his family moved to
Stuttgart, where his father set up his own lithography business. After completing an apprenticeship in his father's shop, he studied painting at the
State Academy of Fine Arts. When his father died in 1864, Otto took over the management of the family business. In 1868, he went to Paris, where he copied the landscape and animal paintings of the
Dutch Masters. He also became acquainted with
Jules Dupré, who introduced him to the Barbizon School and the style known as "Paysage intime" (intimate landscape). After completing his studies there, he went to Munich and became a student at the private painting school operated by
Adolf Lier. Although he graduated in 1873, he remained in Munich until 1880. In 1875, he married Julie Schönleber, the sister of
Gustav Schönleber, who had become his friend at Lier's school. He then relocated to
Karlsruhe and, in 1881, became a professor of animal painting at the
Grand-Ducal Baden Art School. In order that his students could learn to paint from nature, he built an open-air studio; going so far as to buy a cow and some other small animals. He also took numerous trips to
Holland and the
Alps to paint landscapes. In the years 1884/85 and 1893/94, he served as director of the school, which was renamed an "Academy" in 1892. He died in 1894 in Karlsruhe, after a short illness. ==Selected paintings==