Willi Weitzel is from Stadtallendorf, Hesse, Germany, where his mother’s family ran a retail store for several generations.

He grew up with his younger brother Manuel and his older sister Ingrid. His father was a sales representative for a chocolate company.

In 1992, he graduated from St. Johann School in Amöneburg and subsequently performed his alternative military service.

Afterward, beginning in 1994, he studied theology for four semesters at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich without earning a degree.

He then completed an internship at Bayerischer Rundfunk.

At the same time, he began studying to become a secondary school teacher in the subjects of Catholic religious education, German, geography, and physical education, completing his studies in 2000.

Weitzel has lived in Herrsching am Ammersee since 2013. He has been married for the second time since 2012 and has three daughters, one of whom is from his first marriage.