Ernst's father, Ferdinand Johann von Bibra, (*1756; † 1807), fought under General Rochambeau in the American Revolutionary War on behalf of the colonies. Later he married his brother's daughter, Lucretia Wilhelmine Caroline von Bibra,(b.1778 - d. + 1857). Ernst's father died when he was 1½ years old, and Baron Christoph Franz von Hutten (d. 1830) raised Ernst in Würzburg. He graduated at nineteen from a boarding school in Neuberg on the Danube. Baron Ernst von Bibra started studying law at Würzburg but soon changed over to the natural sciences, especially chemistry. ("Dr. med. & phil." Doctor of medicine & PhD) Martin Haseneier, in his Foreword to the 1995 translation "Plant Intoxicants" relates that Ernst fought in no less than 49 duels as a young man! Many of his works have been reprinted in recent years. Besides the castle and estate at Schwebheim, Ernst was the owner of a half interest in the castle and estate at Willershausen (Herleshausen). Ernst sold his half of the castle and estate of Willershausen (Herleshausen) in 1850 to the Landgrave Carl August of Hesse.