Johann baron of Götzen was born in 1599, to a noble, Lüneburg Lutheran family. At the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War he joined the army of the Electoral Palatinate, serving in the forces of Ernst von Mansfeld and the neutral Dutch Republic. Following the Mansfeld's defeat at the Battle of Dessau Bridge, he defected to the Imperialists. In 1626, he took part in the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania, receiving the command of the island of Rügen two years later. In 1628, he participated in the unsuccessful siege of Stralsund, which had refused to adhere to the Capitulation of Franzburg. The 1630, Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War led to the loss of Pomerania, Götzen's forces remained in the area for a short period of time, engaging in the act of (extorting money and resources from the local population under the threat of violence). He appears to have left the army following the dismissal of Imperial Albrecht von Wallenstein, on the same year.