[1][2] Winfried Schumann was born in Tübingen, Germany, the son of a physical chemist.

In 1912, he gained a doctorate with a thesis on high-voltage technology under the supervision of Engelbert Arnold.

[3] Prior to the First World War, he managed the high voltage laboratory at Brown, Boveri & Cie.[4] In 1920, he was made a professor at the Technical University in Stuttgart, where he had previously been employed as a research assistant.

In 1924, he was made professor and director of the Electrophysical Laboratory at the Technical University of Munich.

During 1947–1948, he worked at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, USA, and then returned to his post in Munich.