 James Franck was born in Hamburg , Germany , on 26 August 1882 , the second child and first son of Jacob Franck , a banker , and his wife Rebecca née Nachum Drucker . He had an older sister , Paula , and a younger brother , Robert Bernard . His father was a devout and religious man , while his mother came from a family of rabbis . Franck attended primary school in Hamburg . Starting in 1891 he attended the Wilhelm @-@ Gymnasium , which was then a boys @-@ only school . 
