Förschner was born in the town of Dürrenzimmern (today part of Nördlingen), Bavaria on November 4, 1902, and was raised on a farm owned by his family. In 1922, he enlisted in the Reichsheer, and would remain a soldier for the next twelve years. Following his departure from the army in 1934, he became a member of the SS, and was assigned to its military-wing, the SS-Verfügungstruppe, the organization that would eventually become the Waffen-SS.[1]