He immigrated to the United States in 1856 and served as a captain in the Union Army, 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, during the American Civil War.

Metzner immigrated to the United States in 1856 and entered into a business partnership as a druggist with Henry J. Stein in Louisville, Kentucky.

[1] In August 1861 Metzner traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he enlisted for three years of service in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

After the Battle of Stones River, Metzner was assigned as a topographical engineer with the 2nd Division, Army of the Cumberland, where artists' materials were more readily available for sketching during his idle hours.

Following his first wife's death in 1877, Metzner left the pharmacy business, but continued his work on developing glazes and ceramic artwork.

In partnership with Jacob Louis Bieler, an Indianapolis brewer, Metzner and his sons, Otto and Max, continued to perfect a technique to produce high quality enameled artistic tile and ceramic glazes.

In 1900, Metzner and his son, Max, helped reestablish the C. Pardee Works, a decorative tile manufacturer in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

[11] Metzner's business ventures contributed to the development of glazes for ceramic tile-relief panels, which were popular decorative items in Victorian-era America.