Erwin Rommel - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Rommel was born on 15 November 1891 in Heidenheim, 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg (then part of the German Empire). He was baptised on 17 November 1891. He was the second child of the Protestant headmaster of the secondary school at Aalen, Professor Erwin Rommel Senior (1860–1913), and Helene von Luz, who had two other sons and a daughter. Rommel wrote that "my early years passed quite happily."

At the age of 14, Rommel and a friend built a full-scale glider that was able to fly short distances, and he continued to display extraordinary technical aptitude throughout his life. Although Rommel considered becoming an engineer, at age 18 he acceded to his father's wishes and joined the local 124th Württemberg Infantry Regiment as a fähnrich (English: ensign), in 1910, studying at the Officer Cadet School in Danzig. He graduated on 15 November 1911 and was commissioned as a leutnant in January 1912.

While at Cadet School, Rommel met his future wife, 17-year-old Lucia Maria Mollin (commonly called Lucie). They married on 27 November 1916 in Danzig and on 24 December 1928 had a son, Manfred Rommel, who later became the Mayor of Stuttgart. Rommel had a relationship with Walburga Stemmer in 1913, which allegedly produced a daughter, Gertrud.