Editing Erwin Rommel (section)

== Early life and career ==
Rommel was born on 15 November 1891 in [[Heidenheim an der Brenz|Heidenheim]], {{convert|45|km|mi}} from [[Ulm]], in the [[Kingdom of Württemberg]], [[Southern Germany]], then part of the [[German Empire]]. He was the third of five children to Erwin Rommel Senior (1860–1913) and his wife Helene von Luz. Her father, [[Karl von Luz]], headed the local government council. As a young man, Rommel's father had been an artillery lieutenant. Rommel had one older sister who was an art teacher and his favourite sibling, one older brother named Manfred who died in infancy, and two younger brothers, of whom one became a successful dentist and the other an opera singer.{{sfn|Fraser|1993|p=8}}

At age 18, Rommel joined the [[Army of Württemberg|Württemberg]] Infantry Regiment No. 124 in [[Weingarten, Württemberg|Weingarten]] as a ''[[Fähnrich]]'' ([[Ensign (rank)|ensign]]), in 1910, studying at the Officer Cadet School in [[Danzig]].{{sfn|Hoffman|2004|p=10}} He graduated in November 1911 and was commissioned as a [[lieutenant]] in January 1912 and was assigned to the 124th Infantry in [[Weingarten, Württemberg|Weingarten]].{{sfn|Butler|2015|pp=30–31}} He was posted to Ulm in March 1914 to the 49th Field Artillery Regiment, [[XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps]], as a battery commander. He returned to the 124th when war was declared.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=43}} While at Cadet School, Rommel met his future wife, 17-year-old Lucia (Lucie) Maria Mollin (1894–1971), of Italian and Polish descent.{{sfn|Butler|2015|p=31}}