He is the author of several books on classical archeology, primarily of the Western Roman Empire and its successor barbarian states.
He completed his studies with the Staatsexamen in Latin and Greek as well as his thesis on Roman representations of trades.
He worked in the Mediterranean from 1978 to 1979, funded by a travel scholarship from the German Archaeological Institute (DAI).
In 1988, Zimmer became Professor of Greek Bronze Casting Workshops at the Free University of Berlin, while continuing to work at the collection of antiquities, where his work included several major exhibitions such as Mirror Images (1987), Civil Worlds (1993) and The Praying Boy.
Since 31 July 1999, Gerhard Zimmer has been Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.