Herkner was born in Liberec (Reichenberg), Bohemia and died in Berlin, Germany.
Herkner taught as a professor at the universities of Freiburg (1890-1892), Karlsruhe (1892-1898), and Zürich (1898-1907), as well as the Technical University (1907-1913) and Frederick William University (1913-1932) of Berlin.