Gottfried Glöckner attended the Zwickau Conservatory. He then worked as a music teacher in Bad Liebenwerda and Frankfurt (Oder). From 1970 to 1974 he studied composition with Manfred Weiss at the Academy of Music Carl Maria von Weber Dresden. He works as a freelance composer in Frankfurt (Oder). Glöckner composed several works published by bellmannmusik, Edition Choris Mundi and Verlag Neue Musik. His Concerto for Orchestra was first performed in 1984 in Havana. He was married to the writer Helga Glöckner-Neubert until her death in 2017.