He was born in Parma to a noble family of German descent, on 11 June 1890. He enlisted in the Royal Italian Army in 1909, enrolling in the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry in Modena, graduating as infantry second lieutenant on September 19, 1911. He participated in the First World War, rising from lieutenant to major, in the ranks of the 30th Infantry Regiment, participating in the battles of the Isonzo, of the Piave and of Vittorio Veneto, and earning three Silver Medals for Military Valor. On 1 December 1926 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops in Eritrea.