Ernst Jünger was born in Heidelberg to a middle-class family and grew up in Hanover as the son of a chemical engineer, who later became a pharmacist. He attended school from 1901 to 1913 and was a member of the Wandervogel movement. In 1913, he ran away from home to join the French Foreign Legion, in which he served very briefly in North Africa. During World War I he served with distinction in the Imperial German Army on the Western Front. He was wounded seven times during his war service. In the first week of January 1917 he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class[1] and in September 1918 was awarded Prussia's highest military decoration of that time, the Pour le Mérite (informally known as the "Blue Max"). This he received as a Lieutenant at the age of 23.
He married Gretha von Jeinsen (1906–60) in 1925. They had two children, Ernst Jr. (1926–44) and Alexander (1934–93).
His brother Friedrich Georg Jünger (1898–1977) was a poet and essayist. His younger son Alexander, a physician, committed suicide in 1993.