He was a chemist, pharmacist, botanist and textile entrepreneur. He came to Lanškroun at the invitation of Francis Jakob Pernikarz, settled there for good and married Pernikarz’s daughter Anna.
Erxleben opened the pharmacy At the Good Samaritan with a botanic garden.
He constructed a manufactory for flux linen production and had a bleaching plant built in Sázava where he applied scientific bleaching principles. Josef Steimann (1779 1833), a mineralogist, later professor of chemistry and technology at the Polytechnic Institute in Prague, helped him with experiments. Both white and printed linen was also delivered to Germany, Hungary, Italy and Turkey.
Erxleben also participated in the work of Patriot Economic Society in Prague. He is an author of expert publications – e.g. On Taste and Strength of Beer.
His son Eduard Norbert Erxleben (1796-1860) was an elected burgomaster in Lanškroun in 1845-1850. In his honour the Lime spring (Vápenný pramen) near Sluneční pond was named after him.