August Kühn, born in 1849 as the illegitimate child of Yette Kühn and the timber merchant Lois Heß, became a worker on the construction of the new Treuchtlingen–Nuremberg railway line after finishing school. He was drafted into military service during the wars of 1866 and 1870/71. After the war, he was employed by the Royal Bavarian State Railway, where he came into contact with class-conscious workers. After some bad experiences, he joined the Social Democratic Party.
