Born in Leipzig, Wunderlich studied at the Musikhochschule there, with Karl Straube who was a friend of Reger and premiered many of his organ works.

[2] After he fled to West Germany in 1958,[3] Wunderlich was KMD at the Hauptkirche Sankt Jacobi (Main church of St. James) in Hamburg, where he took care of the Arp Schnitger organ which Bach had once admired when he applied for the same position.

During his Hamburg period, Wunderlich recorded many works by Bach, Franz Liszt, Max Reger and György Ligeti.

[1] Together with his second wife, the violinist Nelly Söregi-Wunderlich [de], he recorded works for violin and organ by Joseph Rheinberger, by Reger, and of his own composition.

[5] His main work is the scenic oratorio for Easter, Maranatha – Unser Herr kommt,[clarification needed] composed in 1953.