Albert Ritzberger came from a family of teachers and began his career in teaching. He exhibited his first drawings at an art dealership in Linz. His chalk portraits enabled him to study at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule with Ferdinand Laufberger in 1876/77, and then at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Vienna (1879 to 1884) with Heinrich von Angeli.

Encouraged by several awards, he established his own studio in Gumpendorf in 1884. From 1887 to 1890 he ran his studio in Munich, moving to Salzburg in 1893. In 1893 he traveled to Italy and Holland, before stays in Vienna and Salzburg. From 1890 until his death in 1915 he lived and worked in Linz and in Aschach on the Danube.