Born as the eldest son. At his baptism on July 10, 1810, three godparents were listed:

He received commercial training and worked as an agent. He was already in his 40th year when he took the "Reich Citizenship" to become an Austrian citizen and married nine days later. Although from a Protestant family, he married the Viennese Catholic Elise in Bratislava. The children were baptized Protestant.

In 1852 he founded the first (!) Viennese coffee distillery in the old city moat (the Meinl company was founded in 1862), opposite Klomser's inn. After several changes, for example to the location Mühlgasse 6 in VI. District, the company finally moved to Burggasse 30 in the VIIth district around 1879.

His last place of residence was (after a relatively frequent change) at Hofmühlgasse 7a in VI. Vienna district when he died in 1886.

His widow Elise became the owner of the steam distillery, the management remained with his son Moritz junior, who had taken over this task a few years before his father's death. He is said to have rejected a takeover proposal from the Meinl roastery (which is still famous today). He should have been employed as a foreman. Around 1900/1901 the distillery was moved to the nearby Neubaugasse 64 due to the demolition of the building in Burggasse. Shortly afterwards he had to give up the business due to illness due to caffeine poisoning, according to his sons Fritz and Hans in a letter from 1950.