Successively, he was a professor at the Universities of Giessen (from 1906), Freiburg (from 1914) and Leipzig (from 1917), where he remained until his retirement in 1934.

Körte was a member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences and the German Archaeological Institute.

Alfred Körte was a leading expert in the study of Greek comedies, being remembered for his editorial and translational work involving papyrus fragments left by the dramatist Menander.

In 1900, he assisted his brother, Gustav, with initial excavation of the ancient city of Gordion in Asia Minor, subsequently being the co-author of Gordion: Ergebnisse der Ausgrabung im Jahre 1900 (1904).

He also contributed numerous articles to the "Pauly-Wissowa", a renowned German encyclopedia of classical scholarship.