lange was born in weißwasser, prussian silesia, a town in present-day saxony. his father was a railway construction supervisor. lange finished high school in staßfurt in 1928 and studied law in the university of jena. he received a doctorate in law in 1933, and was recruited by the gestapo office of halle. he joined the "sturmabteilung" (sa) in november 1933, but soon felt that this had been a bad career move. thus, in 1936 lange joined the "schutzstaffel" (ss) (member number 290,308).