On leaving school, in 1850 Pfeiffer went on to study Engineering and Commerce at the Polytechnic Academy in Stuttgart between 1850 and 1852, before moving on to study in France. Five years later he emerged from the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris with a degree in chemical engineering. Between 1857 and 1862 he attended universities at Leipzig, Heidelberg and Berlin, studying Finance and Macro-economics. He also traveled extensively in and beyond France, Italy and Germany, also visiting England where in 1862 he visited the London World Fair. During his travels he began to familiarize himself with aspects of the socio-economic situation in Europe, and in England in 1862 he came across the Co-operative movement.