Born in January 1953 in Wegberg (Germany), he completed his studies in social pedagogy at the University of Applied Sciences "Fachhochschule Niederrhein" in 1975; during these studies he collaborated on a research project regarding deviance in adolescents in middle and high schools. From 1975 to 1981 he studied History and Philosophy at the University of Trier and for one year at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". After earning his MA, he started his doctorate on the topic of socialist ideas in the 18th and 19th centuries at the University of Trier and finished it at the European University Institute in Florence, where he completed his PhD in February 1987 from the Department of History and Civilization.
Since that time he has been working as a translator at the German Historical Institute in Rome on economic, socioeconomic, political and juridical themes covering periods from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. As part of his work he has participated in several workshops organized by the "Europäisches Übersetzer-Zentrum" in Straelen and the "Übersetzerhaus Looren" in Zurich. In addition, in 1992–1993 he collaborated as research associate at the European Historical Institute on a project on the development of local, regional and national social policy structures in the industrialized world, and in 1995–1996 he taught as an adjunct professor in the department of Political Sciences at the University of Turin. Since the 2013/14 academic year he has been giving classes on the theory and practice of translation at the Scuola Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici "San Domenico" in Rome.

Current Research Projects
History and Translation in the German-Italian Linguistic Area during the 19th and 20th Centuries
War diary of the German General to the Italian Eighth Army High Command – Italian edition

Main Research Interests
History of political ideas in the 19th and 20th centuries; History of Charity and Social Policy in Europe; History of religious orders in the Contemporary Era; Urban History of Rome in the 20th century; History of translation