 The eldest son of Friedrich Karl Wilhelm Freiherr Koenig von und zu Warthausen (1863–1948), and his wife Elisabeth Hedwig Marie Anna von Wiedebach und Nostiz-Jänkendorf (1878–1961), he was born at the family home of Schloss Warthausen, close to the town of Biberach an der Riss in Baden-Württemberg.He attended the "Humanistisches Gymnasium" boarding school in Munich, and in February 1924 graduated from the high school in Kempten, Allgäu, before studying law and economics at universities in Munich, Königsberg, Berlin, and England, while also pursuing his enthusiasm for sailing and flying, obtaining his pilot's licence after only 12 hours instruction.In 1928 President Hindenburg announced the creation of the Hindenburg Cup, awarded annually for the best sporting flight by an amateur pilot with a prize of 10,000 Reichsmarks.