Markus Lanz (born 16 March 1969 in Bruneck, South Tyrol, Italy) is a German television presenter and producer who currently lives in Hamburg.
Lanz is a member of the German speaking majority in the Italian province of South Tyrol. He grew up in Geiselsberg, a village that lies 1,344 metres above sea level in the central Alps. He has stated that his family was poor, and that his father died at an early age, leaving his mother to care for 3 children. His good school grades earned him a scholarship to the monastery of Neustift, where he went to private catholic secondary school. He finished high school in Humanistischem Gymnasium in Bruneck and completed military service as a radio operator in the alpine division of the Italian army before working at the radio station Radio Holiday. In 1992 he graduated from the Bayerische Akademie für Werbung und Marketing in Munich with a degree in Business Communications.