Alexander v. Kotzebue was born  in Teheran (IRI) in 1978. After his A-levels he studied economics in Nuremberg from 2000 till 2006. His course specialization was on public finance and econometrics. Since 2006 he has been working as scientific assistant at the Chair of Economics, especially Public Finance, at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg. Since March 2010 he has been employed by the Chair of Public Finance and Public Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His dissertation is concerned with the interaction of private donations, fundraising and the fiscal handling of charity.