He studied philology and linguistics at the universities of
Marburg and
Leipzig, qualifying as a lecturer of modern languages at Marburg in 1873. Soon afterwards, he became an associate professor at the
University of Zürich, followed by a full professorship at
Münster Academy in 1875. In 1876 he was appointed chair of Romance philology at the
University of Halle, where in 1901/02 he served as
academic rector. In 1879 he founded the journal
Bibliotheca normannica.[2][3]
Bibliotheca normannica; Denkmäler normannischer Literatur und Sprache (from 1879) – Bibliotheca normannica; monuments of Norman literature and
language.
Geschichte der französischen litteratur von den ältesten zeiten bis zur gegenwart (with
Adolf Birch-Hirschfeld, 1900) – History of French literature from the earliest times to the present.
Die französische und provenzalische Sprache und ihre Mundarten, 1906 – French and
Provençal language and their dialects.
La chançun de Guillelme. Französiches volksepos des XI. jahrhunderts, 1911 – Chanson de Guillaume; French epics of the 11th century.[4]