Norbert Pfennig was a trained chemist who studied at the University of Goettingen (Universität Göttingen) in Germany, where he did his PhD on the topic of chromatography.
Pfennig and Schlegel took the initiative of establishing the German Collection of Microorganisms (today's DSMZ) that was officially founded in 1970.
[1] Internationally, Pfennig was widely known as cultivation expert and taxonomic specialist for sulfur bacteria for which he was awarded the Bergey Medal (1992).
[2] In 1979/1980, Pfennig became Full Professor at Universität Konstanz at Lake Constance and appointed for the field of limnology, researching plankton and bacteria.
[3] In his private life, Pfennig was a strong believer in anthroposophy and also taught anthroposophic chemistry at the Goetheanum in Dornach.