Morell was the second son of a primary school teacher, born and raised in the small village of Trais-Münzenberg in Upper Hesse.[1] He studied medicine in Grenoble and Paris, then trained in obstetrics and gynecology in Munich in 1910. On 23 May 1913, he completed his doctoral degree and was fully licensed as a physician.[1] He served as a ship's doctor until 1914, when he volunteered for service at the Front during the First World War.