He was educated at Bonn and at Jena where he studied philology (historical linguistics) with August Schleicher and specialized in Indo-European, especially Slavic, languages.
Recibiu educación nas Universidades de Bonn e Jena onde estudou filoloxía (lingüística histórica) co gran indoeuropeísta August Schleicher e especializouse en indoeuropeo, especialmente en linguas eslavas.