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He began his naval career as Leutnant zur See der Reserve on September 20, 1894. Five years later, König became Oberleutnant zur See der Reserve… eventually rising to Kapitänleutnant der Reserve on December 10, 1904.

When the war began, König was recalled to active duty as a captain in the German merchant navy. In 1915, he won the Iron Cross, Second Class.

In 1916, he became a reserve Kapitänleutnant in the Imperial German Navy. Later that same year, König became commanding officer of the merchant submarine Deutschland.

He took it on two patrols to the United States for commercial purposes. König arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on July 10, 1916 with a cargo of dyestuffs. While in the U.S., he was interviewed by the press, and he was even the recipient of vaudeville offers! The reserve Kapitänleutnant was welcomed by the mayor and officials of the city of Baltimore. On August 2, 1916, König sailed on the return voyage back to Germany.

A second voyage to America was made later that year, and König put in at New London, Connecticut. Following his return after the second journey, König wrote a book called Voyage of the Deutschland, which was heavily publicized, as it was intended to be used as propaganda.

By the end of 1916, König was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class, the Hohenzollern House Order, and the Saxe-Ernestine House Order. In addition to these citations, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Halle.

König then became commanding officer of a Sperrbrechergruppe (group of blockade runners) in 1917, but his service with the German Imperial Navy came to an end on December 18, 1918, just over a month after the armistice that ended the hostilities.

After the war, König became an executive (branch leader) at Norddeutscher Lloyd from 1919 to 1931. He was also made Korvettenkapitän der Reserve on June 21, 1920.

Paul Liebrecht König died at Gnadau on September 9, 1933 at the age of sixty-six.