Lanz is a member of the German-speaking majority in the Italian province of South Tyrol. He grew up in Geiselsberg, a village located 1,344 metres above sea level in the central Alps. Lanz stated that his family was poor, and that his father died at an early age, leaving his mother to care for three children. https://srnachrichten.de/markus-lanz-krebserkrankung/