Ludwig Von Drake was born in Vienna, Austria on about 1870. Some creators have presumed that his family is a German branch of the Duck family but that hasn't been included in any major stories. Ludwig had a fascination with knowledge. Since his youth he had been trying to obtain as many diplomas, in any science, as possible. By 1930 the professor had emigrated to the United States and he married the, already retired, Matilda McDuck. Matilda had presumably died by 1948 because on that year her brother Scrooge McDuck claimed he was the last McDuck. Ludwig spent the rest of his life as a loner. Among his other interests was psychology and he tried to make a psychological study of his nephew Donald Duck. According to Don Rosa's timelines Ludwig was dead by 1970; regardless, a number of television series (including Mickey Mouse Works and Quack Pack) have shown him still active in the 1990s.