Kurt Schwabe was born on May 29, 1905 in Reichenbach , Germany . From 1912 to 1924 he attended the Real Gymnasium in Reichenbach, then studied chemistry in Dresden until 1927. In 1927, with Erich Müller , he graduated with his thesis "On the catalytic cleavage and anodic oxidation of formic acid". He received his doctorate in 1928 with his thesis "On the ability of platinum metals to absorb hydrogen".

He obtained his habilitation in 1933 with his thesis "On the anodic behavior of metals in saturated solutions of their salts". Because he refused to join the Union of National Socialist Teachers, he was expelled from the Technical University of Dresden and took a job as an industrial chemist at the Kriebstein paper mill. In November 1933, after signing the German professors' declaration of support for Adolf Hitler, he became a private teacher at the Technical University of Dresden . In 1939, he became an associate professor of chemical technology at the Technical University of Dresden.