karl georg eberhard schöngarth was born on 22 april 1903 in leipzig, germany. his father was a master brewer. schöngarth began high school at the age of 11, but soon dropped out in order to work at a garden center to support the war effort. on 7 march 1918 schöngarth was awarded a “young men's iron medal”. after the war, he was to go back to high school to complete his education, but instead joined a freikorps paramilitary group in thuringia. this eventually lead to schöngarth joining a local nazi group in erfurt on november 1923, as he felt the organization agreed with his ethno-nationalistic tendencies. schöngarth fled to coburg to try and escape from his crime of treason, but eventually came back to erfurt and was given amnesty. in 1924 schöngarth finished his high school education and got a job at the deutsche bank while also joining the army infantry regiment 1/15 in gießen.