Table of Contents
Walter Althammer born on the 12th of March 1928 was a German lawyer and a Politician. He was a representative of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria.
Walter and Hans Jurgen Pohlenz were the last serving members of the 4th Bundestag from 1927 – 2020. Also, he was the earliest-serving living former member of the Bundestag.
Early Life and Career
Walter was the son of Peter Althammer, a police sergeant in Germany. He briefly served as an infantry soldier during the Second World War in 1945, after completing his schooling in Augsburg and he was captured and taken as a prisoner.
Following his release, he attended the Marist Brothers boarding school in Mindelheim, where he graduated from the Marist College in 1948.
He started studying law and political science at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Political Science in 1949. He financed his education by working as a roofer and construction worker. He joined Theodor Maunz as a research assistant in 1955, and in 1956 he passed the second state law examination to successfully complete his legal education.
In 1956/57, Althammer briefly worked as a lawyer before transitioning to public service. From 1957 to 1961, he served as an administrative councilor for the Augsburg city administration while also teaching at the Bavarian School of Administrative Sciences. In 1961, he was promoted to senior government councilor and later, he advanced to the position of government director in the Bavarian Ministry of Education and Culture.
Starting in 1965, Althammer served as president of the Southeast Europe Society in Munich, a position he held for many years. In recognition of his contributions, he was named the organization’s honorary chairman in 2000.
Althammer became a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) and its youth organization, the Junge Union (JU), in 1952. He later led the JU district association in Augsburg from 1955 to 1961. His political influence extended further when he served as vice chairman of the CSU-affiliated Hanns Seidel Foundation from 1978 to 1986.
Althammer was elected to the German Bundestag for the first time in 1961, and as a direct candidate, he continuously represented the Augsburg-Land constituency. He was the chairman of the Audit Committee and was in office from October 5, 1967, to the end of the 1969 legislative period.
What was Walter Althammer’s Cause of Death?
Althammer died on 16 February 2025, at the age of 96. The cause of his death is unknown.
