Franz Ullrich was born on the 22 July 1830 in the small town of Maikammer, Germany. He was the youngest son of an international merchant, Leonhard Ullrich, and his wife Regina Damm. After studying banking in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse for four years, he founded a company with his older brother, Anton, called the "Gebrüder Ullrich". Together they built up an enameling factory in Maikammer. In 1855 the two Ullrich brothers purchased machinery from the Exposition Universelle in Paris to be used in the factory. On the 17 November 1857, Franz Ullrich married Eva Katharina Schmitt in Maikammer.