Hans-Karl Koch
German politician (1897-1934)
Johannes Karl (Hans-Karl) Koch (14 October 1897 – 1 July 1934) was a German Nazi Party politician and an SA-Brigadeführer in the Party's paramilitary unit, the Sturmabteilung (SA). He was the SA commander in Lower Silesia and in western Germany, as well as a sitting member of the Reichstag. He was among those murdered in the Night of the Long Knives when Adolf Hitler launched a purge of the SA leadership.
Early life
Koch was born in Potsdam, the son of a senior postal secretary in the Reichspost. He attended the local Volksschule and Gymnasium. After the outbreak of the First World War, Koch volunteered for military service and joined the Royal Prussian Army on 1 September 1914. He was sent to the western front with the 15th Reserve Jäger Battalion. By 1917, he had reached the rank of Leutnant of reserves. During the war, Koch was severely wounded by shrapnel resulting in a long hospitalization. He was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class.
The public source identifies “Hans-Karl Koch” as german politician (1897-1934). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hans-Karl, Koch and German.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q111843. VIAF identifies the subject as 25713554. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1934, 1914 and 1917.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hans-Karl Koch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.