1900 (13 February) Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Koch is born in Hamburg.
1912 Koch becomes a member of the later FC St. Pauli. There he is active as gymnast and football goalkeeper.
1922 At the age of just 22, Koch is given, together with a colleague, procuration from his employers, Emil Arensberg and Jacques Sekkel, two Jewish merchants, who run an import/export company for skins and furs from South Eastern Europe. By this, extended powers are given to him – a sign of trust and also a step on the career ladder.
1930 In the commemorative journal to the club’s 20th anniversary, Koch, then just a simple member, tells how the German High Command unsuccessfully tried to teach St. Paulians military discipline during WWI: “In those days, very little was known about anti-Semitism and pacifism, but strangely enough, the cadets from Millerntor appeared to have been covert adherents of such ideas. The leaders were unsuccessful in their efforts, drills weren’t met with enthusiasm and field exercises couldn’t take place as the Sundays were fully used for football and athletics.”
1930 The current club chairman Henry Rehder moves to Berlin. In the election of his successor, Wilhelm Koch wins by 55-37 votes against Hans Friedrichsen – although Mr Rehder actually proposed the latter candidate. At that meeting, the later “desk criminal” Otto Wolff (already a member of the Nazi party at that time) vehemently takes side for Koch.
1933 Koch is re-elected by the members’ meeting – and thereafter approved by the commissioner of the Reich sport leader as “club leader” (as it was the case in all other later elections).
1933 With his colleague Hugo Scharff, Koch takes over the company Arensberg & Sekkel, thereby benefiting from the “aryanisation”. The former owners flee Germany. However, it is unlikely that Koch was actively involved in that ouster. The correspondence held with the company founders in their exile in Sweden rather indicates an amicable relationship.
1937 After the NSDAP lifts its stop of admitting new members (which had been in force since 1933), Wilhelm Koch becomes “party comrade”. At that time, membership in the Nazi party was not mandatory for people in such positions.
1945 After the surrender of Germany, Koch loses the club leadership on account of his NSDAP-membership. His is first succeeded by Hans Friedrichsen (1945-7) and then Max Pestorf (1947-8) who wins the vote against Friedrichsen by 155-68.