After starting his studies at the University of Vienna medical school, Pernkopf earns his ‘Promotion’ to medical doctor in 1912. During his time in school he is a part of the Deutschnationale Bewegung – or the German National Movement – an Austrian-Hungarian group dedicated to German nationalism. This was the precursor to the Austrian version of the German National Socialist Workers’ Party – also called the Nationalsocialists or Nazis.