In March 1955, Volmer returned to East Germany.  He received the Soviet Unions national prize, first class, Hervorragender Wissenschaftler des Volkes (Outstanding Scientist of the People).  On 1 May 1955, he became an ordinarius professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin.  On 10 November 1955, became a member of the Wissenschaftlichen Rates für die friedliche Anwendung der Atomenergie of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).  From 8 December 1955 to 1959, he became president of the German Academy of Sciences, after which he was vice-president until 1961.  From 27 August 1957, he became an initial member of the Forschungsrat' of the GDR.
At the Technical University of Berlin, where Volmer worked for so many years, the Max Volmer Laboratory for Biophysical Chemistry was named in his honor. Also in Volmers honor, a street was named Volmerstrasse' in Berlin-Adlershof, Potsdam, and Hilden.