Rommel’s family lacked much of a military tradition.

One of the interesting facts about Erwin Rommel is that his family lacked much of a military tradition. Rommel was born on November 15, 1891, in Heidenheim, a city in the southern German kingdom of Württemberg, then a part of the German Empire, 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Ulm. He was the third child to be born to Erwin Rommel Senior (1860–1913) and Helene von Luz, whose father, Karl von Luz, was the leader of the local government council. They had five children altogether. Rommel's father was a lieutenant in the artillery when he was a young man.

Rommel's older sister recalled him as a kind and submissive boy, despite the fact that he would later become famous for his daring warfare strategies. He co-built a full-size glider at the age of 14, and then disassembled and reassembled a motorcycle as his interest in math and engineering grew. He wanted to go to university, but his grades weren't good enough, so he planned to work at an aircraft factory close to his hometown in southern Germany. But his father, a school administrator, persuaded him to think about enrolling. Rommel, then 18 years old, was rejected by the artillery and engineering before being accepted as an officer cadet to the infantry in 1910. In contrast to his father and other male relatives, who left the military after finishing their mandatory service, he will remain in it for the remainder of his life.