He came from a poor family from Duderstadt in the Diocese of Hildesheim, where he was born in 1838. After leaving gymnasium he worked as a telegraph operator, and then studied at the College of Theology and Philosophy in Hildesheim. He was ordained in 1862. In 1881 he was appointed Bishop of Fulda, and in 1887 Prince-Bishop of Wrocław. He held many positions in Prussia, and as the Bishop of Wrocław was at the same time the head of the Catholic Church in Austrian Silesia. By virtue of that position he was also a member of the Austrian Upper House and the Sejm (Landesausschuss) in Opava. He died in Opava in 1914.
       Cardinal Kopp supported the Catholic Church in Cieszyn Silesia at every opportunity; for example he often donated funds for the building of churches, for other purposes and even for other denominations. He received the title of honorary citizen of Cieszyn on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his bishopdom by a resolution of the Town Council of 14 December 1906. At the beginning of the following year a municipal delegation led by Mayor Leonhard Demel presented him with the diploma of honorary citizenship.