Michael Koch is the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the German Embassy to Nepal in Kathmandu since April 28th, 2025.

Born as the son of a German diplomat in Kansas City (USA) on September 30, 1955 he was schooled in the Netherlands, Germany and Canada, to graduate from a French government school in Rabat (Morocco) with the Baccalaureate. He went on to study law at the Universities of Tübingen and Bonn, finishing with the First Juridical State Examination in 1978. Dr. Koch continued his education with a Postgraduate Legal Traineeship to complete the Second Juridical State Examination in 1981 (comparable to an American bar examen). After interning with a law firm in Toronto (Canada) he joined the “Institute of International Law” at the University of Kiel (Germany) in 1982, where he worked as a research assistant. In 1990 he was awarded a Doctor of Law (Dr. iur.) by the University of Bonn with a thesis on British constitutional law.

Before, in 1986 Dr. Koch had joined the German Foreign Service. His first posting was to the subdivision for the European Community, followed until 1991 by service with the German Consulate General in San Francisco (USA). After that and until 1995 he was Personal Private Secretary to the “Coordinator for German-American Cooperation” in the Foreign Office. Next, he served at the Embassy Rangoon (Myanmar) as deputy head of mission until 1998, then again at the centre in Bonn and Berlin until 2001 as head of a “Task Force for Internal Reforms of the Foreign Service”. Between 2001 and 2004 Dr. Koch headed the Political Department of the Embassy New Delhi (India). From there he moved on to be Director of the “Special Task Force Afghanistan” until 2008, when he became German Ambassador to Pakistan. He was then appointed “Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan” with the Foreign Office, a function he held between 2012 and 2015. Subsequently, he became “Legal Adviser for Public International Law” and Director-General of the Legal Department of the Foreign Office. In 2018, Dr. Koch was named German Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome. After 35 years, the last 17 years of which as Ambassador, he retired from the Foreign Service on June 30th 2021 after reaching the mandatory age limit. He has since been reactivated to serve in his present role.

Dr. Koch is married to Ingrid Jahn-Koch, a lawyer; the couple has three children.