Baron Adolf von Koerber was born in 1891 on the Island of Rügen of a distinguished Prussian family. His father was a Doctor of Law and Landrat of Rügen and his mother was of an old Prussian military family. He was educated at military gymnasiums in Stettin, Potsdam and Lichterfelde. In 1909 he was appointed an ensign of cavalry and in 1910 a Lieutenant.

From 1910-1912 he saw service with the Danzig Black Hussars and it was during those years that he became interested in flying. In 1913 he had a year's leave during which he visited Italy, the Netherlands and Scandinavia to study art, literature and military science. His travels came to an end with the outbreak of the first World War, in which he served in the Air Force until he was invalided out in 1917.

After the war von Koerber went to Munich to practise the profession of journalism. His interest in political journalism was stimulated by the plight in which Germany found itself. He became correspondent for Finnish newspapers and came into contact with many political figures including Adolf Hitler. Like many young men he was captured by the ideals of the National Socialists and on 22 November 1922 joined the Nazi Party with the number 11640. He took part in the Putsch of 1923 and in this year wrote a biographical sketch of Hitler. From the beginning he saw the contradiction between the high ideals of the National Socialists and their actual conduct and soon became disenchanted with the Party.

In 1926 von Koerber visited France, where in conjunction with Arnold Rechberg, he worked hard for a Franco-German rapprochement. In an article of 6 May 1927 in the Berlin democratic organ "Vossische Zeitung" he prophesied that Hitler was seeking a dictatorship. From 1926 he was on Hitler's black list and came under increasing threats from the Nazis. Living in Berlin, he was Chief Correspondent for the "Neues Wiener journal" but wrote for many other newspapers as well.

After the Putsch of 1933 his career in journalism was virtually finished and because of his ant-Nazi feelings his house in Berlin was watched, his telephone tapped and his movements restricted. His wife travelled outside Germany on his behalf to keep in touch with those, like Father Muckermann, who had been forced to flee the country. His support of his Jewish friends brought him further into Nazi disfavour. By 1938 he knew war was inevitable and warned the British military attache in Berlin of this (See Documents of British Foreign Policy 1919-1939. Ed. by E. L. Woodward & R. Butler, 3rd series, vol. 2, 1938, N0. 595).

On the outbreak of the second World War von Koerber was forbidden to travel and had to remain on the island of Rügen. He continued his illegal activities and passed information to the British Broadcasting Corporation in London and to foreign newspapers. After the war he claimed that he helped to encourage the growing antagonism to Hitler, particularly amongst military men. He was arrested on 21 July 1944, the day after the unsuccessful plot to kill Hitler and was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen. His wife, despite her ill health, was sent to a labour camp. On 15 February 1945 he was liberated by the Russians, went to Potsdam and joined free Germany as Comrade 179. Thereupon he claimed that he was a victim of fascism and worked for the de-nazification of Germany. His private affairs were in a bad shape, his house at Hinz plundered and his house in Berlin bombed.

In 1946 von Koerber went to Berlin, where he was licensed as a journalist by the Information Central Board, and in 1948 he was flown out of the Eastern Section by the British and went to Baden-Baden as chief editor of the "Europaeische Illustrierte". The following year he became Press Chief of the French zone of the Economic Co-operation Administration of the Marshall Aid Plan. In 1952 he went to Bonn to work for the Arbeitgemeinschaft Demokratischer Kreise. From 1958 he lived in Nice until 1968 when, disillusioned with Europe and its politics, he immigrated to South Africa, settling in Johannesburg until his death on 19 November 1969.