Wolgemuth was born on 1 November 1868, in Berlin, North German Confederation, the son of Eduard Albert Maximilian Wohlgemuth and Louise Berend.

Although little is known of Wohlgemuth's early life, once in London he became a British citizen in 1897 and by 1903 had established a business importing and exporting sausage casings.

He then enrolled for a DSc in the Psychological Laboratory, supervised by William McDougall, completing his thesis in 1909 and being awarded a degree the following year.

Wohlgemuth formed a close friendship with a fellow research student, Nellie Carey, but "On 6 June 1918 Adolf was shot in the back by his jealous wife".

[2] His 1911 paper "On the after-effect of seen movement",[5] based on his thesis, has been described as "the most comprehensive single article on the phenomenon [of the motion aftereffect]"[2] (p. 229).