The son of a colonel in the Prussian Army, Müller was born in Hanover. After attending gymnasia at Hanover and Kiel, he entered the military academy at Plön in Schleswig-Holstein, but transferred to the German Imperial Navy at Easter 1891. He served first on the training ship , then on the training ship on a voyage to the Americas. He became signal lieutenant of the old ironclad in October 1894, and later transferred in the same capacity to her sister ship .