Auerswald was born in Marienwerder (Kwidzyn), West Prussia. He was a member of a Meissen family of nobility, first mentioned in 1263, from Auerswalde, now part of Lichtenau, Saxony. His father was the official Hans Jakob von Auerswald, while his brothers were the general Hans Adolf Erdmann von Auerswald (1792–1848) and the politician Alfred von Auerswald (1797–1870).