Hans Koschnik was born in Bremen on April 2, 1929. After training as a senior civil servant, he was taken prisoner of war by the British during his military service in the spring of 1945. He returned to Bremen in the fall of the same year and worked in the city administration ever since.

He joined the SPD in 1950 and became a member of the Bremen parliament in 1955. Between 1970 and 1991, he was a member of the SPD's Federal Executive Committee and was Willy Brandt's deputy from 1975 to 1979.

In the 1960s, he held various senatorial posts before becoming President of the Senate on November 28, 1967 and thus head of government of the state of Bremen. Between 1971 and 1977, he also served as President of the Association of German Cities. In this capacity, he visited the Hessian state capital on September 6 and 7, 1972.

After a brief welcome in the ceremonial hall of the town hall, Koschnik signed the city's Golden Book. This was followed by a tour of the city, a visit to the Kalle company and the sewage treatment plant construction site on the Maaraue and lunch with Minister President Osswald. After the subsequent talks, there was a joint press conference in the town hall. After an overnight stay in Wiesbaden, Koschnik returned to Bremen from Rhine-Main Airport on the morning of September 7.