Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was born in Clausthal, a mining town in the Harz Mountains of Germany. He was the third of thirteen children. From a young age, Koch displayed a keen interest in natural history and science, reportedly learning to read using old newspapers at the age of five, demonstrating a precocious intellect and a thirst for knowledge that would define his later career.

Koch pursued his formal education at the University of Göttingen, where he studied medicine. Initially drawn to botany, he was captivated by the lectures of Jacob Henle, who emphasized the importance of microscopic organisms in disease processes. Henle's ideas profoundly influenced Koch, laying the groundwork for his future work in bacteriology and shaping his belief in the germ theory of disease.