Born in Freiburg, Germany, Vorgrimler worked as an engineer for several arms manufacturers over his long career. He briefly worked for the Krupp factory from January to November, 1936. From there, he was recruited by Ott-Helmuth von Lossnitzer, the director of Mauser Werke's Weapons Research Institute and Weapons Development Group. He was assigned to Department 37, which was responsible for military small arms up to 15 mm in caliber and eventually led the sub-department in charge of aircraft weapon construction.
