Origins and Family
Born in Hermaringen in Württemberg on January 4, 1903, Georg Elser grew up in Königsbronn under difficult family conditions. His father Ludwig Elser, born 1872 in Ochsenberg, Heidenheim district, came from a farming family and had 18 brothers and sisters. Georg Elser’s mother Maria Müller, was born in 1879 out of wedlock. She worked on her father’s farm until she married Ludwig Elser. The wedding took place in November 1903 and the ten-month-old Georg Elser was legally recognized as a child born in wedlock.
From 1904, the Elser family lived in Königsbronn at Hauptstrasse 130 (now: Aalener Strasse 12). They had five more children: Friedrike (October 1904), Marie (August 1906), Ludwig (May 1909, died of pneumonia in January 1915), Anna (October 1910), and Leonhard (June 1913). Georg Elser had a tough and often unhappy youth. He had to take responsibility for others at an early age and the family was often marked by conflict. Ludwig Elser was a drinker with various health problems; the family descended into poverty.
