Born on 16 November 1850 in Schäßburg, Siebenbürgen, as son of a pharmacist. He studied at the universities of Vienna, Graz and Heidelberg, started out with a medical study but soon turned to natural sciences. In 1874, he becomes assistant to Gustav Tschermak at the Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography at the University of Vienna but accepts in the same year a position as assistant at the Imperial Mineral Cabinet. Since 1895 he heads the Mineralogical - Petrographical Department and becomes its director in 1904. His research interests change from mineral chemistry to petrography for which he qualified as a lecturer at the University of Vienna in 1888 where he became professor in 1907.

At the department he was first involved in moving the collection from the old premises in the Imperial Castle into the new building at the Ring. He also oversees the revision and re-numbering of the collection. In particular, he was curating the rock collection and designed the new exhibition of rocks. He was also particularly interested in meteorites and took care of the meteorite collection. Berwerth dies on 22 September 1918 in Vienna.