Preußler was born on October 20, 1923 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to German parents. He was married to Annelies Kind from 1949 until his death in 2013. He won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1972 for Krabat. Preußler died on February 18, 2013 in Bavaria, Germany from natural causes, aged 89.