After completing his A-levels at the Bayreuth Humanities Gymnasium, Germinal Hilbert studied law in Würzburg and Munich, graduating with a PhD in comparative German-French law. He also passed the simultaneous interpreting examination at the University of Grenoble. Hilbert then went on to complete a diploma at the INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau and was also involved in various music, radio and television productions for the former French state broadcaster ORTF. In addition, he founded agencies in Paris and Munich.