In 1999, Niermann first contributed a short story (10 000 Jahre [10,000 years]) to the anthology "Mesopotamia" edited by Swiss writer Christian Kracht.
Niermann successfully veered from this perception with his acclaimed 2003 book Minusvisionen [best translated as "Negative-only visions"; also a neologism in German], published by Suhrkamp.
The book revived the literary form of the protocol (German "Protokoll"), drawing on motives of interview and oral history.
Suggestion include the construction of a large-scale pyramid as tourist attraction and grave site in Eastern Germany, nuclear armament, or a radical re-vamping of the German language ("Rededeutsch").
Late February 2007 saw the publication of Metan ["Methane", misspelled], the product of teaming up with Christian Kracht and climbing up Kilimanjaro.
The book records the stories, experiences and perceptions of German and other non-Chinese expatriates who have decided to pursue life in rapidly changing China of the 00 years.
Since 2008, Niermann functions as series editor of Solutions (original publications in English),[5] published by Sternberg press and designed by Zak Kyes.
In the series, Niermann together with Jens Thiel published Solution 9: The Great Pyramid, with contributions by Rem Koolhaas, Ai Weiwei, Christian Kracht, David Woodard, and others.
[8] In 2014, Niermann participated in the group exhibition and event series opti-Me* with the artist-run space Auto Italia South East.
Their second installment of the series, OCEANO DE AMOR, was part of a three-month exhibition Auto Italia gallery in London,[10] and it had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen in March 2020.