Heidenheim an der Brenz
Zoeppritz was born on 22 October 1881 in Mergelstetten, a small village several miles south of Heidenheim an der Brenz. He studied natural science and geology at the universities of Munich and Freiburg, finishing his education with a doctoral dissertation on the geology of part of the Swiss Alps in 1905, at the University of Freiburg. Following the completion of his doctorate, in the summer of 1906 in Karlsruhe, Zoeppritz passed the "Oberlehrerexamen", a teaching certificate that allowed him to lecture at a university.