After working as an apprentice on a farm in Lower Saxony, Ziemann studied history and philosophy at Free University Berlin, graduating with a master's degree in 1991.

In addition, Ziemann has published widely on the comparative history of pacifism and peace movements especially during the Cold War.

[1] In 2000, Ziemann was awarded the Bennigsen-Foerder Prize by the Ministry of School, Continuing Education and Science in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

He used the prize money of 100.000 Deutsche Mark to conduct a research project on the impact of opinion -polling on the political system in the Federal Republic from 1949 to 1990.

[2] In 2003, Ziemann was the recipient of a Feodor Lynen Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, allowing him to spend the academic year 2003–2004 as a visiting scholar at the University of York (UK).