ABSTRACT

Early Life Ludwig Erhard was born in Furth in Bavaria on February 4, 1897. Coming from a family of independent businessmen and craftsmen, Erhard learned early the pride and self-reliance of hard work. Like most boys of his day, he intended to assume ownership of his father's small textile shop and at sixteen became an apprentice in the northern Bavarian town of Nurnberg. These plans were cruelly ended when Erhard was badly wounded while a member of the Bavarian Artillery during World War I.