Johanna Katharina Bethge completed a teaching degree in history and German language and literature, with Protestant theology, at Heidelberg University. While studying for her PhD in history she undertook her traineeship period to qualify to teach in grammar schools. During her degree studies and her doctoral studies she received grants from the Studienförderwerks Klaus Murmann within the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft. She published her first papers on questions related to history in 2014.