The German biologist and vine breeder Dr Johannes Zimmermann (1907–1998) studied in Munich, Berlin and Kiel, was awarded a Dr. phil. in 1931 and passed the state examination for higher teaching in biology, chemistry and geography in 1932. From 1932 to 1934, he worked as an assistant at the Institute for Plant Breeding and Crop Production at the Technical University of Munich in Weihenstephan, before joining the then Baden Viticulture Institute in Freiburg in 1934, where he was responsible for grapevine breeding and microbiology.
From 1937, vine breeding in Baden was transferred to the Reichsrebenzüchtung Baden (Baden Imperial Vine Breeding Institute), which Zimmermann headed until the end of the war in 1945. He worked at the State Viticulture Institute in Freiburg (Baden-Württemberg) until 1972. Zimmermann was a pioneer in the fields of clonal selection and hybrid breeding and focused on finding ways to minimise the use of chemical plant protection products as far as possible.
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