Zumpe was born in Zwickau. After passing the Notabitur, Zumpe was drafted into military service at the age of eighteen. After serving on both the East and the West Front, he was a prisoner of war until 1948. After a period as a warehouse worker, he was employed as a librarian at Wismut in Johanngeorgenstadt. Equipped only with his experiences as a child in the choir of the in Zwickau, he took over as choir director in the cultural ensemble of Wismut. It was here that Rudolf Fischer of the Leipzig Musikhochschule discovered him at a choir competition and brought him to Leipzig to study.