Der Angler und die Nixe

c. 1836 – 1846

Ten years of study and wandering

For the next ten years he devotes himself to perfecting his craft and travels widely: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, southern and northern Germany, the Tyrol and Italy, producing many interesting works and painting portraits too. He often travels with his brother Oswald: both become regular visitors to Ostend, and from their initials they are known as the “Alpha and Omega” of landscape painters.

1843–1845 · Workplace

Rome

1846

Returns home for the family business

He returns home for the family business and that year takes over the brewery and inn; his father, though technically retired, becomes a freelance accountant.

1846 – 1 April 1910 · Workplace

Düsseldorf

1848

Marries Luise Lichtschlag

He marries Marie Louise Hubertine Catharine Lichtschlag (1827–1889), known as Luise. They have five children; the second, Maximilian, becomes an opera singer under the name Max Alvary.

1848

Order of Leopold

He is awarded the Order of Leopold.