Karl Freiherr Michel von Tüßling was born in Tüßling, Bavaria, as the second child of Alfred Freiherr Michel v. Tüßling (1870–1957) and Hertha Gräfin Wolffskeel v. Reichenberg (1877–1948).[5] He grew up on the Upper Bavarian estate of Tüßling castle, which his father bought in 1905.