Born in Basel, this Swiss pianist studied at the Basel Conservatory under Hans Haher, and in Berlin under Martin Krause. He was later a member of the staff of the high school for music in Berlin, until 1935. He conducted, in Lübeck from 1926 and in Munich, from 1928-1930. He married, and divorced in 1925, Eleanora Irma von Jeszenski von Mendelssohn.