Kārlis Lobe was born in "Janēni" homestead in Jaunpiebalga parish, Cēsis district.

In 1918, after the October Revolution, Lobe joined the Army of Kolchak, and later commanded the Latvian Imanta Regiment founded in Vladivostok, with which he intended[citation needed] to return to Latvia to join the War of Independence.

Later he was involved in anti-partisan operations against Soviet guerillas in Eastern Latvia and Belarus with the Latvian police battalions.

(Imanta) Infantry Regiment of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS on the Volkhov Front.

In 1944 Lobe was awarded the rank of colonel and commander of the infantry of the entire division, participating in fighting in the Opochka district and in Vidzeme.

At the end of the war Lobe was interned in British zone of occupation for the period of a year.

After the war, Lobe actively participated in the commune of Latvians in exile in Germany, such as the Hawks of Daugava organization.