Georg Ratzinger Georg Ratzinger Georg Ratzinger PA (born 15 January 1924) is a German Catholic priest and musician, known for his work as the conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg, Germany. He is the elder brother of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). His great-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger. Ratzinger was born in Pleiskirchen, Bavaria to Joseph Ratzinger, a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger, née Peintner. He has a younger brother, Joseph, who later reigned as Pope Benedict XVI from 2005 to 2013, and a sister, Maria. Early in his life he showed musical talent, playing
Georg Ratzinger the church organ already at the age of 11. In 1935 he entered the minor seminary in Traunstein and had professional musical instruction there. In 1941 he encountered for the first time the choir of the Regensburger Domspatzen, which he would later direct, when they performed in Salzburg on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mozart's death. In summer 1942 Georg Ratzinger was drafted to the Reichsarbeitsdienst to serve Nazi Germany in World War II, and the same autumn to the German Wehrmacht. In 1944 he was wounded in battle in Italy. At the end of the war, he