He was born in Ellrich, near Nordhausen in South Harz, in the family of a modest craftsman. He started workin as a miner in a silvermine, later as a locksmith, but his skills and his conscientiousness attracted an attention of Reden, who visited the mine. He offered him a job in Silesia, but before that he sent him for education to the steelworks adviser - Bueckling, who knew how to construct steam engines. 

   In 1792 Holtzhausen was appointed a master of buliding steam engines in Tarnowskie Góry. Totally he constructed about 50 machines and in 1806 he became a manager of the new-started branch of construction steam engines in the Steelworks of Gliwice. That branch was a standard for whole Germany; Holtzhausen was appointed a machine inspector and he was managing of a whole works concerning steam engines in the Upper Silesia and in Wałbrzych coal-field. In appreciation of his services, the king Fryderyk Wilhelm III appointed him a machine manager (9.3.1825).     

   He was also involved in welfare work – he was a clerk in the evangelical community and simultaneously supported a renovation of All Saints church (Wszystkich Świętych). 

   He got married with Christiana Zweigel, daughter of a district veterinary surgeon. They had one son and 2 daughters. Daghter Henrietta got married with F.L. Beyerhaus, who was a modeller in the Steelworks of Gliwice.