He was married in Aachen in 1876. From the following year to 1886, he and his wife lived in Paris, where he exhibited at the Salon from 1879 to 1885. His son, also named Adolf, was born in 1878. He left Paris after his wife died; returning to Munich with his son.
He was named an Honorary Member of the Munich Academy, and held the title of Royal Professor. Two of his works were purchased by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, and some were widely reproduced.
Sources
Short autobiography, In: Das geistige Deutschland am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. Enzyklopädie des deutschen Geisteslebens in biographischen Skizzen. Vol.1: "Die Bildenden Künstler". Leipzig/Berlin 1898
Willy Burger, "Echtler, Adolf", In: Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Vol. 10: Dubolon–Erlwein, E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1914, pp. 315–316 (Online)
Horst Ludwig: "Ernst Zimmermann, Alois Erdtelt und Adolf Echtler. Münchner Maler der Gründerzeit. Wilhelm Diez und seine Schule". In: Weltkunst #50, 1980, pp. 1024–1026
(in German) Susanna Partsch: Echtler, Adolf. In: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon. Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker (AKL). Band 32, Saur, München u. a. 2002, ISBN3-598-22772-8, S. 56