Friedrich Gottlob Keller’s father was a weaving and reed binding master, his nine siblings died early. He did not fulfil his desire for a qualified technical training so he also became a weaver and reed binder. After completing his journeyman years in 1834, he spent eight years working intensively but to no avail on a perpetual motion machine. In December 1843 he succeeded in the first preparation of mechanical wood pulp. On 11 October 1847 in the printworks of C G Rossberg in Frankenberg, a newspaper was printed on wood-pulp paper for the first time.

After taking over the Kühnhaide paper mill, Keller lacked the capital to exploit his invention. In 1846, he thus teamed up with the paper manufacturer Heinrich Voelter (1817-1887), who made the procedures suitable for industry and internationally utilisable in the paper industry. Keller fell into financial ruin in 1853 and afterwards made his income in running a mechanical workshop in Krippen, near Bad Schandau. He was not recognised for his achievements until old age and was supported by collections among the beneficiaries of his invention.