Professor Rudolphi, the director of the Berlin Institute of Anatomy, took note of Schlemm's manual dexterity in anatomical dissection and supported his impressive career.

Schlemm eventually became full professor of anatomy in 1833 and spent his remaining 25 years in Berlin with a focus on teaching students and training surgeons.

As historical background information is largely lacking in this regard, it is impossible to decide whether Schlemm's episode of grave robbing was a solitary instance or a more common method of acquiring bodies for anatomical instruction in early 19th-century Germany.

He was the first to discover the corneal nerves of the eye, which he describes in his 1830 treatise named Arteriarum capitis superficialum icon nova.

He is known today for the eponymous Schlemm's canal, which is a channel in the eye that collects aqueous humor from the anterior chamber and delivers it into the bloodstream.