Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann was born in Leipzig, and enrolled in medicine there in 1821. Together with Gustav Theodor Fechner, who got his degree in medicine in 1822, and Rudolph Hermann Lotze (1817–1881) they formed a small intellectual group which dissolved only in 1837 when Volkmann received his professorship in Dorpat. In 1826 he obtained his doctorate and in 1828 he was habilitated as "Privatdozent" at the University of Leipzig. It was there that he became professor extraordinary of zootomy in 1834. In 1837 he went to Dorpat (now Tartu) as professor of physiology, pathology and semiotics. However, his residence in Dorpat was short: he left for Halle as early as 1843. After moving to Halle, Volkmann helped Gustav Theodor Fechner, his brother-in-law (married to Volkmann's sister Clara Fechner), with many experiments that formed the foundation of the epochal "Elemente der Psychophysik". (his daughter Anna Anschütz was later experimental subject for Fechner).