Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde
Tiesenhausen was born in Riga, Latvia, in the Russian Empire to a Baltic German family from his father's side, while his mother was of Scottish ancestry. He studied engineering in Hamburg, but was conscripted to the Luftwaffe in 1939 and sent to the Eastern Front. He was allowed to continue his studies and in 1943 and graduated from University of Hamburg. After his graduation he was sent to the Peenemünde Army Research Center.