He received a technical education in the state of Thuringia, graduating from university in his native country, before leaving Germany around 1860 to seek opportunities in England, particularly in London.
[2] Immisch found opportunities to apply his watchmaking skills, developing precision clockwork mechanisms, improving practical details and considering the further applications of the physical processes involved.
In 1881 Immisch obtained a patent for a remarkably small watch-shaped thermometer, functioning on the variable expansive properties of fluid in a Bourdon tube.
The speed of the temperature-expansion and the calibration of the watch-dial indicator allowed very accurate readings to be taken, and its small size made it highly portable as a clinical instrument.
By 1880, his experiments in small dynamo-electric machines had led him to step away from watchwork and explore the new opportunities in the nascent electrical engineering industry.
From 1888 onwards they had notable success in the application of their motors to pumping and haulage work in mines, carrying out installations in England, Scotland and Wales.
After 12 months of experimental work starting in 1888 with a randan skiff, the firm commissioned the construction of hulls which they equipped with electrical apparatus.
This small mile-long single-line track from Plaistow to Canning Town was chosen to prove the economy and reliability of the electric system.
c. xlvi), to employ such electric tramcars throughout the network, the ultimate approval remained with the local authorities through whose areas the trams ran.
These obstacles, together with the high costs of maintaining the accumulators on such a small installation were the end of the system, and it was evident that the General Electric Power and Traction Company had, in the circumstances, been overcapitalised.
The tests took place in the Merryweather & Sons works in Greenwich, known for its fire engines and steam trams, showing success although the system was not commercially adopted.