Franz Mohr was born in Nörvenich, Germany on September 17, 1927.[1] The second of three sons, Mohr's family enjoyed music; Christianity Today remarks that "Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Beethoven were as familiar as bratwurst and potatoes".[2] His father—Jakob Mohr, a postal worker—was an amateur musician who sung and played the guitar, mandolin, and zither.[2] His mother Christina (née Stork) Mohr and the elder Mohr moved the family to the town of Düren in Franz's early years.[1]
In his youth, Franz Mohr attended the University of Music in Cologne and the Academy of Music in Detmold;[3] at the former, he survived a bombing raid, which damaged the university's organ.[4] His initial music interest was in playing violin and viola, while he also played both guitar and mandolin in German dance bands.[1] While playing Dixieland jazz in dance bands, he met Elisabeth Zillikens, whom he married in 1954; together, they had two sons, Michael and Peter, and a daughter, Ellen.[1] Issues with tendonitis in his left hand compromised Mohr's goals as a violin soloist, so he abandoned the instrument.[4]
