He was mayor of several towns: from 1845 he was mayor of Weyerbusch/Westerwald; from 1848 he was mayor of Flammersfeld/Westerwald; and finally he was mayor of Heddesdorf from 1852 until late 1865, when, at the age of 47, his worsening health cut his career short; he had caught typhus in 1863 during an epidemic during which his wife had died.