Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: Ko Pflanze te tama a Otto Paul Pflanze (1885-1944) me Katrine Mills Pflanze (1886-1959). I haere ia ki te Whare Wananga o Maryville me te Whare Wananga o Yale i mua i tana whakaakoranga paetahi i Yale i aukatihia e te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i mahi ai ia i te Whare Taonga o te Moananui a Kiwa i roto i te Army Air Corps hei rangatira matauranga e tuhi ana i nga mahi pakanga. I muri i te mutunga o te pakanga, i mahi a Pflanze mo te Tari Kawanatanga, a, i te
Ko te Berlin Airlift e whai ana i te tuku o nga taonga i te 1948, i mua i te mutunga o tana ako i te Yale. I whiwhi ia i tana PhD i te 1950, a i whakaako ia i nga whare wananga e whai ake nei (kua whakararangihia i roto i te raupapa): Te Whare Wananga o New York, Te Whare Wananga o Massachusetts i Amherst, Te Whare Wananga o Illinois, Te Whare Wananga o Minnesota, Te Whare Wananga o Indiana, me te Bard College. Mai i te 1970 ki te 1971, he Kairangahau a Pflanze i te Whare Wānanga mo te Akoranga Nui i Princeton, New Jersey. Mai i te 1976 ki te 1985, ko Pflanze te Kaiwhakatika o te American Historical Review, kei Bloomington, Indiana te tari matua.