After studying technical physics and many years of professional activity in the electrical industry, he was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Experimental Physics at the Vienna University of Technology. In 1970 he followed a call to the then Institute of Physics (later Building Physics, now AB Energy Efficient Building) at the Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck.
As a habilitated physicist, Prof. Brandstaetter built up the Institute and, as one of the founders, also the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture with great commitment and know-how. One of the goals of his work was, among other things, as an advisor to Tyrolean Hydropower, to promote the transfer of knowledge and the close networking of science and industry. Above all, however, Prof. Brandstaetter was a versatile teaching and research personality. He additionally taught at the Medical Faculty and was also involved in the development of a blood pump as an auxiliary device for heart operations. His achievements in research and teaching were honored with the Cross of Honor for Science and Art and the Keschenitz Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.