Hans von Tschammer und Osten was born in a family of landed gentry. After receiving a traditional upper-class education he went to fight to the front in the First World War. During the times of the Weimar Republic he joined the SA, becoming a Gruppenführer, "Group Leader", rising up to become a colonel of the paramilitary organization and later a member of the Reichstag.[1] Von Tschammer was named Reichskommissar für Turnen und Sport (Commissioner for Gym and Sports of the Reich) of the German Sports Office Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (DRA) on 19 July 1933.