Senger und Etterlin was born on June 8, 1923, in Tübingen, Germany, into a family rich in military tradition, with over 250 years of service to various German polities.

Soviet offensives having pushed the German forces along with the 24th Division back to Romania, in August 1944, during the Second Battle of Jassy-Kishinev he was wounded again, this time losing his right arm,[1] again requiring his evacuation from the front.

No longer able to serve directly in combat, at the age of 21, Senger und Etterlin was transferred to the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) or Army High Command and was assigned to be the personal adjutant of General der Panzertruppe Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg.

Following General Staff training, he filled an assignment with the G-3 (Operations) section of Panzerlehrbrigade 9 at Munsterlager, where he participated in field testing the new Leopard 1 main battle tank.

[3][4] After the successful conclusion of his training at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Senger und Etterlin served for two years with the planning office of the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in Mönchengladbach, working on the integration and coordination of Dutch, British, Belgian, and German armed forces units.

After a short intermission in the Panzerbrigade 20 in Hemer from October 1969 to March 1970, he received orders to report to the Army Staff in Bonn, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadegeneral on September 30, 1970.

In spring 1978, von Senger und Etterlin was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant and assigned to be commanding general of the Bundeswehr's I Corps, headquartered in Münster.

Despite these affairs, more political than military, General von Senger und Etterlin maintained regular contact with both large and small Bundeswehr units under his command, watching over their tactical training and overall preparedness for war, intervening, when necessary, to make corrections[6] After four years in command of one of the most powerful military formations standing in defence of central Europe, General von Senger und Etterlin retired, honoured with the Großer Zapfenstreich on September 30, 1983.