Anka Rheinberger was born in on June 1st 1889 in a middle-class German family. Her dad was a philosopher and her mom worked in a kindergarten. She had a regular childhood in Berlin until the age of 15 when she moved to her uncle's house in Londom for her dad's job related reasons. That's when her uncle, a doctor, started teaching her medicine. At the age of 18 she started studying medicine in the Edinburgh university. At the age of 23 she completed the course and got a medical degree. After a pretty decent medical career, in 1912 she joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. By November 1915 she already has 3 full years of service. She was assigned as a RAMC officer onboard the HMHS Britannic.