Editing Ludwig Erhard (section)

== Early life ==
Ludwig Erhard was born in [[Fürth]], then in the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]], on 4 February 1897.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=2}} His father Wilhelm Erhard (born 1859) was a [[Catholic Church]] clothing store proprietor, while his mother Augusta adhered to [[Protestantism]].{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|pp=2–3}} Ludwig had two brothers and a sister, all of whom were raised as Protestants.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=3}} Ludwig suffered from infantile paralysis in his third year, resulting in a deformed right foot and forcing him to wear [[orthopedic]] shoes for the remainder of his life.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=4}}

Erhard entered primary school in Fürth at the age of six in 1903 and performed poorly.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=3}} In 1907, he entered Fürth's Royal Bavarian Vocational High School, where his grades were average.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=4}} He received his secondary school certificate in 1913.{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=4}} In the following years, he was a commercial apprentice at the Georg Eisenbach textile company in [[Nuremberg]] until 1916{{sfn|Mierzejewski|2004|p=4}} and worked thereafter as a retail salesman in his father's draper's shop.