Occupation Politician Political party DDRLDPDFDP | Name Waldemar Koch | |
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Died 15 May 1963Berlin, Germany | ||
Waldemar Koch (25 September 1880 – 15 May 1963) was a German liberal politician and economist.
He was born in Bad Harzburg, Duchy of Brunswick. Koch studied Economics, Philosophy and History at Berlin He received a doctorate in 1907 for a dissertation entitled "Consolidation in the German Electrical Indudstry" ("Konzentration in der dt. Elektroindustrie"). Between 1907 and 1910 he undertook an extensive study tour that included Russia, China and the United States.
He also worked from 1905 till 1907 for AEG, returning to the company to head up a London-based company for them from 1910 till 1914.
During World War I he was served in the German army. In 1918 he joined the German Democratic Party (Deutsche Demokratische Partei). Between the wars he worked as an economist and professor on the Technical University of Berlin.
After World War II he co-founded the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD) in the Soviet Occupied Zone (SBZ). In 1945 he was briefly the Chairman of the LDPD, but the Soviets forced him to resign after a few months. He opposed the land reform plans of the Soviet authorities and the Socialist Unity Party (SED).
Until 1948 Koch was a member of the LDPD's executive committee.
In 1949 he went to West Germany (West Berlin) and again worked as an economist professor. From 1948 to 1956 Koch was a member of the liberal FDP (Free Democratic Party).