I was born on July 19, 1898 in Berlin, the son of the businessman Carl Marcuse and his wife Gertrud, born Kreslawsky. I attended the Mommsen Gymnasium and from 1911 the Kaiserin-Augusta Gymnasium in Charlottenburg until my summons to military service in 1916. After completing my final examination (Reifeprüfung), I entered Reserve Division 18 (Train-Ers.-Abtg. 18) but remained in the homeland on account of my poor eye-sight and was transferred to the Zeppelen Reserves (Luftschiffer-Ers. Abtg. 1) where I received permission and the opportunity to visit lectures. After my release in the Winter of 1918, I studied regularly for four semesters in Berlin and four semesters in Freiburg, first Germanistik, and then modern German literary history as my main subject (Hauptfach) and philosophy and political economy as subsidiaries (Nebenfach).1