After he passed his Abitur in Ballenstedt in the Kreis Quedlinburg [de], he studied musicology and Germanistik at the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg from 1959 until his diploma in 1964.
Afterwards (1967) he became deputy director of the Handel House in Halle (Saale) under Konrad Sasse.
From 1982 to 2005, he succeeded Sasse as director of the Music Museum, which he established as an internationally important institution.
[1] Werner published Sasse's revised dissertation on Robert Franz and the series Schriften des Händelhauses in Halle, wrote the museum guide and continued the Handel bibliography.
[2] At the Handel Prize in Halle (Saale) he was jointly responsible for the programme design.