Walter Menzel

Walter Menzel (13 September 1901, Berlin – 24 September 1963, Bad Harzburg) was a German politician in the SPD. He was a member of the Parlamentarischer Rat and was one of the founders of the Basic Law.

Life and career

After attending secondary school, Menzel studied law and political science in Berlin and Freiburg im Breisgau from 1920 to 1923. After passing his legal traineeship in Berlin in 1923, he received his doctorate in law from the University of Breslau in 1925. In 1927, he passed the Grand State Examination in Law and also subsequently worked for a year as a district judge in Potsdam. After working as a financial advisor in the Prussian Ministry of Finance, he was appointed landrat of the Oberlahn district in 1931. Menzel was the youngest district administrator in the Free State of Prussia, at the age of 30.

After the NSDAP came to power, he was dismissed and, after a year of unemployment, became a lawyer in Berlin in 1934. As far as possible, he managed the assets of emigrated Jewish clients. In 1937, he visited emigrated friends and acquaintances during a trip to the United States. He defended persecuted people and people who were part of the resistance, including Elisabeth Pungs and the architect Hugo Häring, in the context of the difficulties surrounding the private art school "Kunst und Werk". In 1946, he moved to the High Presidency of the Province of Westphalia, where he headed the General Department for Internal and General Administration. Later, he became the deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Klöckner-Werke.