Theodor Eicke was born on 17 October 1892, in Hampont (renamed "Hudingen" in 1915) near Château-Salins, then in the German "Reichsland" (province) of Elsass-Lothringen, the youngest of 11 children of a lower middle-class family. His father was a station master described as a German patriot. Eicke was an underachiever in school, dropping out at the age of 17 before graduation. Instead he joined the Bavarian Army (23rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment at Landau) as a volunteer, and then was transferred to the Bavarian 3rd Infantry Regiment in 1913. Upon the start of First World War in 1914, Eicke participated in the Lorraine campaign, fighting at both the First Battle of Ypres in 1914 and the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, and was with the 2nd Bavarian Foot Artillery Regiment at the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Eicke served as a clerk, an assistant paymaster, and a front-line infantryman, and for his bravery during the war was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class. Despite being decorated, Eicke spent most of the conflict behind the lines as a regimental paymaster.