Mr Hans Hugo Friedrich Wilhelm KOEPPEN

   FamilySearch ID: P3KQ-34X.

  General Notes:

Like his grandfather and father before him Hans was a career soldier, his military history reads as follows:

He initially joined the 2nd Westphalian Infantry Regiment, and in 1894 was promoted to second lieutenant. He rose through the ranks and became a full colonel in October 1939, and major general in April 1944, shortly before retiring.

NOTE: There is a note in his book "By Car Around the World from 1909" stating the he had said farewell to his 79 year old father in Spandau in 1908 (presumably before departing for New York to participate in the New York to Paris Race which started that year). This would put his fathers birth date at 1829 which ties in with the records.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Wikipedia entry for Hans Hugo Friedrich Wilhem Koeppen.
Hans Koeppen

2. NY to Paris Race, 1908.
NY to Paris Auto Race - German driver Hans Koeppen in the Protos Car at the start - New York 12 February 1908

3. New York to Paris car race in 1908, 1908. Hans took part in the New York to Paris car race in 1908 and is shown driving the Protos Car on the starting grid. He was a lieutenant in the army at the time and it was the first touring car rally around the world.

Koeppen had never driven before. Koeppen's car, the Protos Wettfahrtwagen, was the first to arrive in Paris, beating the next competitor by four days. However he was penalized because he had used a rail-car for part of the journey and skipped Alaska, and thus lost first place.

In 1909, his book about the race, Im Auto um die Welt ("The World by Car") was published and it made him a celebrity, or folk hero, in Germany.

This link gives details of the race:

1908 NY to Paris Race

4. Protos Car in Deutsches Museum, Munich, 2025. The Protos Car that Hans drove in the race has been restored and resides in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany