He initially studied art history at the University of Königsberg, passed the surveyor's examination and was involved in building a section of the Prussian Eastern Railway.
[1] After 1862, he worked for the Building and Planning Commission, where his first assignment was designing the Barnimstrasse women's prison.
His projects during that time included the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (1873–76), the Fuhlsbüttel Central Prison [de], the Wilhelm-Gymnasium (1883–85), and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (1884–89), among others.
[3] In 2005–06, the Museum of Architecture, Wrocław (Breslau) held an exhibition of his plans and drawings called "Architect in Service of the City".
[4] Media related to Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann at Wikimedia Commons