Who is Hagbard Celine?
Hagbard Celine is a hacker handle taken from the anarchist trickster character in the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea. The real identity behind the nickname has never been confirmed for sure, but multiple clues point to Karl Werner Lothar Koch (aka Karl Koch).
Karl Koch was a hacker in West Germany in the 1980s, during the Cold War. He was born in 1965 in Hannover. His mother died when he was young, in 1976; his father had problems with alcoholism and illness, and died a few years later.
Koch inherited some money, which he used, among other things, to buy early computers (e.g. Atari ST) and invest in his hacker projects. He was fascinated by “number mysticism,” specifically the number 23 (which features heavily in Illuminatus!), and seems to have developed a belief system combining hacking, anarchism, conspiratorial thinking, and symbolic numerology.
His use of drugs worsened his mental health over time and deepened his obsessions with numerology and conspiracy theories. Eventually, that led other hackers (known collectively as the Hannover Hackers) to contact him.
The KGB Hack
Koch became involved in a group hacking operation (with other hackers such as Markus Hess, Hans Heinrich “Pengo” Hübner, and Dirk-Otto Brezinski) that gained unauthorized access to U.S. and Western European systems. Then, the group reportedly sold or transmitted some of that stolen information to the KGB (Soviet intelligence).
After that, Koch mysteriously died sometime in 1989. His body was found in a forest near Celle, Ohof. His death is officially ruled a suicide (self-immolation), but the circumstances are murky. His body was found burned, with gasoline, in a forest.
Some believe he was murdered; possible motives cited include exposure to secretive state or intelligence actors, or that his hacking activities had attracted dangerous attention. But there is no definitive evidence either way.
The LoD Connection
American hackers in groups like LoD were rumoured to have flirted with similar activities. Chris Goggans (known as Erik Bloodaxe), along with The Urvile (Neal Patrick) and The Leftist, was accused in the press and by some rival hackers of trying to sell stolen information to foreign powers, including the KGB.
The connection with the Hannover Hackers sometimes causes confusion between the identity of Hagbard Celine, who is erroneously attributed to Chris Goggans. The American hackers were never found guilty of the accusations, but the misinformation spread during those years still fuels stories and doubts.
Between conspiracies and folklore
Famous hackers are often connected to mental health issues and struggles. Their stories are often remembered in popular folklore, and Hagbard Celine is no exception.
In 1998, a German movie about Karl Koch’s life was released. Its title is “23.” He was also memorialized by Clock DVA at the opening of their music video for “The Hacker” and in the liner notes for “The Hacker” on the album Buried Dreams.