Werner was born in Düsseldorf where he attended the Academy and, after some wanderings, settled again in 1862. He was known for his genre scenes of children playing and scenes that extolled the simple virtues of rural family life. Such paintings were very popular in the second half of the last century. Schools of this genre arose in Munich and Düsseldorf, to which besides Wener also Adolf Eberle and Edmund Adler belonged.