The son of the African explorer Hermann von Wissmann (with the same name), he studied in geography in Vienna and then made a name for himself with his research work concerning the problem of hill farmers in Ennstal. Between 1931 and 1939 he launched a number of expeditions, accompanied by Daniel van der Meulen (1894–1989) to South Arabia, an area which would become the main emphasis of his research. He busied himself with the ancient geography and history of this region and developed a chronology for ancient South Arabia.