[1] Aumer was born in Strasbourg of a manual labourer and non-theatrical parents[2] and received little formal education.

[5] Believing he was growing too tall to be completely successful as a dancer, he studied Dauberval's choreographic methods and the related fields of music and art as well.

[6] He was engaged as a dancer with the Paris company in 1797[7] and made his debut there on 15 May 1798 in the "action ballet" Le déserteur, with choreography by Maximilien Gardel and music by Ernest-Louis Müller.

[9] The Paris Opera's maître de ballet Pierre Gardel presented an obstacle which led Aumer to choose the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin as the venue for which to choreograph and produce his early ballets.

Faced with the implacable competition from Gardel, Aumer left France for engagements in Kassel (1808–1814) and Vienna (1814–1820).