	Metzner was born on August 16, 1834, in the village of Lorach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He attended the University of Freiburg in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, where he earned a degree as a pharmacist. Metzner immigrated to the United States in 1856 and entered into a business partnership as a druggist with Henry J. Stein in Louisville, Kentucky.