Ernst Dircksen studied at the Berlin Bauakademie. In 1867, he relocated to Upper Silesia and soon became an expert for building railway bridges and railway lines.[2] In 1882, Dircksen was sent to Cologne to redesign and expand the railway lines there; in 1890 he relocated to Erfurt.
In 1902, a memorial for Dircksen, made by Ludwig Brunow, was erected near the station Friedrichstraße in Berlin. The memorial was later destroyed.
