Loringhoven came from an aristocratic Baltic German family in Courland, the Frydag, that was descended from Westphalia. He was born in the Groß Born Manor, Courland Governorate (in now Lielborne) but grew up in Adiamünde Manor (in now Skulte) in Livonia. After his Final Exams ("Abitur"), Loringhoven joined the Baltic-German Army ("Baltische Landeswehr") in 1918, and with the formation of independent Latvia he became an officer of the 13th Infantry Regiment of Latvia and participated in liberation of Latgale. After Latvian agrarian reforms in 1920 and subsequent nationalisation of manor lands he decided to leave Latvia in 1922 in order to enter the Army of Weimar Germany ("Reichswehr").