Dr von Gudden earned his doctorate from the University of Halle in 1848 and became an intern at the asylum in Sieburg. By 1869 he had been appointed director of the Burghölzli Hospital and was also a professor of psychiatry at the University of Zürich. Later in his career he was professor of psychiatry at the University of Munich.

As director of mental institutions, Gudden advocated a no-restraint policy, humane treatment of the mentally ill, communal social interaction amongst patients, and a well-trained medical staff. These were considered innovative, if not revolutionary ideas concerning mental health treatment in the mid-nineteenth century. Gudden was a respected psychiatrist in Germany and was appointed personal physician to the eccentric King Ludwig II of Bavaria. On 13 June 1886, King Ludwig and Dr von Gudden were both found dead in the water near the shore of Lake Starnberg at 11:30 p.m. that night, allegedly drowned, possibly murdered. To this day the details of their mysterious deaths remain the subject of acute speculation

Photographed by J. Albert of Munich.