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Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein (17 November 1901 – 29 March 1982) was a German academic, diplomat and statesman who was the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community and one of the founding fathers of the European Union.
Hallstein began his academic career in the 1920s Weimar Republic and became Germany's youngest law professor in 1930, at the age of 29. During World War II he served as a First Lieutenant in the German Army in France. Captured by American troops in 1944, he spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp in the United States, where he organised a "camp university" for his fellow soldiers. After the war he returned to Germany and continued his academic career; he became rector of the University of Frankfurt in 1946 and spent a year as a visiting professor at Georgetown University from 1948. In 1950 he was recruited to a diplomatic career, becoming the leading civil servant at the German Foreign Office, where he gave his name to the Hallstein Doctrine, West Germany's policy of isolating East Germany diplomatically.
A keen advocate of a federal Europe, Hallstein played a key role in West German foreign policy and then in European integration. He was one of the architects of the European Coal and Steel Community and the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, which would later become the European Union. He held the office from 1958 to 1967 and was the only German to be selected as president of the European Commission or its predecessors until the selection of Ursula von der Leyen in 2019. Hallstein famously described his role as "a kind of European prime minister" and dismissed national sovereignty as a "doctrine of yesteryear."
Hallstein left office following a clash with the President of France, Charles de Gaulle; he turned to German politics as a member of the Bundestag, also serving as President of the European Movement from 1968 to 1974. He is the author of books and numerous articles and speeches on European integration and on the European Communities.
Walter Hallstein was born on 17 November 1901 in Mainz, Germany. After primary school in Darmstadt he attended a classical school in Mainz from 1913 until his matriculation (Abitur) in 1920.
From 1920 Hallstein studied law in Bonn, later moving to Munich and then to Berlin. He specialized in international private law and wrote his doctoral dissertation on commercial aspects of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. He obtained his doctorate from the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin in 1925 – at the age of 23. From 1923 to 1926 he was a legal clerk at the Kammergericht, and in 1927, having passed his qualifying examination, he was employed for a very brief spell as a judge. He then worked as an academic at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Foreign Private and International Private Law in Berlin, where he specialized in comparative commercial and company law, working under Professor Martin Wolff, a leading scholar of private law. He would remain there until 1930. In 1929 he obtained his Habilitation from the University of Berlin, based on a thesis on company law. In 1930, at the age of 29, he was appointed professor of private law and company law at the University of Rostock, making him Germany's youngest professor of law. He was made Deputy Dean (Prodekan) of the Faculty of Law in 1935 and then Dean in 1936. He remained in Rostock until 1941. From 1941 to 1944 Hallstein lectured at Frankfurt University, where he was Director of the Institute for Comparative Law and Economic Law.
In 1935, Hallstein attempted to start a military career alongside his academic duties. In 1936, he managed to integrate a voluntary military service in an artillery unit. In the years between 1936 and 1939, he attended several military courses and was made a reserve officer.
Hallstein was a member of several nominally Nazi professional organizations, but he was not a member of the Nazi Party or of the SA. He is reputed to have rejected Nazi ideology and to have kept his distance from the Nazis. There was opposition from Nazi officials to his proposed appointment, in 1941, as professor of law at the University of Frankfurt, but the academics pushed through his candidacy, and he soon advanced to become dean of the faculty.
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Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein (17 November 1901 – 29 March 1982) was a German academic, diplomat and statesman who was the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community and one of the founding fathers of the European Union.
Hallstein began his academic career in the 1920s Weimar Republic and became Germany's youngest law professor in 1930, at the age of 29. During World War II he served as a First Lieutenant in the German Army in France. Captured by American troops in 1944, he spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp in the United States, where he organised a "camp university" for his fellow soldiers. After the war he returned to Germany and continued his academic career; he became rector of the University of Frankfurt in 1946 and spent a year as a visiting professor at Georgetown University from 1948. In 1950 he was recruited to a diplomatic career, becoming the leading civil servant at the German Foreign Office, where he gave his name to the Hallstein Doctrine, West Germany's policy of isolating East Germany diplomatically.
A keen advocate of a federal Europe, Hallstein played a key role in West German foreign policy and then in European integration. He was one of the architects of the European Coal and Steel Community and the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, which would later become the European Union. He held the office from 1958 to 1967 and was the only German to be selected as president of the European Commission or its predecessors until the selection of Ursula von der Leyen in 2019. Hallstein famously described his role as "a kind of European prime minister" and dismissed national sovereignty as a "doctrine of yesteryear."
Hallstein left office following a clash with the President of France, Charles de Gaulle; he turned to German politics as a member of the Bundestag, also serving as President of the European Movement from 1968 to 1974. He is the author of books and numerous articles and speeches on European integration and on the European Communities.
Walter Hallstein was born on 17 November 1901 in Mainz, Germany. After primary school in Darmstadt he attended a classical school in Mainz from 1913 until his matriculation (Abitur) in 1920.
From 1920 Hallstein studied law in Bonn, later moving to Munich and then to Berlin. He specialized in international private law and wrote his doctoral dissertation on commercial aspects of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. He obtained his doctorate from the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin in 1925 – at the age of 23. From 1923 to 1926 he was a legal clerk at the Kammergericht, and in 1927, having passed his qualifying examination, he was employed for a very brief spell as a judge. He then worked as an academic at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Foreign Private and International Private Law in Berlin, where he specialized in comparative commercial and company law, working under Professor Martin Wolff, a leading scholar of private law. He would remain there until 1930. In 1929 he obtained his Habilitation from the University of Berlin, based on a thesis on company law. In 1930, at the age of 29, he was appointed professor of private law and company law at the University of Rostock, making him Germany's youngest professor of law. He was made Deputy Dean (Prodekan) of the Faculty of Law in 1935 and then Dean in 1936. He remained in Rostock until 1941. From 1941 to 1944 Hallstein lectured at Frankfurt University, where he was Director of the Institute for Comparative Law and Economic Law.
In 1935, Hallstein attempted to start a military career alongside his academic duties. In 1936, he managed to integrate a voluntary military service in an artillery unit. In the years between 1936 and 1939, he attended several military courses and was made a reserve officer.
Hallstein was a member of several nominally Nazi professional organizations, but he was not a member of the Nazi Party or of the SA. He is reputed to have rejected Nazi ideology and to have kept his distance from the Nazis. There was opposition from Nazi officials to his proposed appointment, in 1941, as professor of law at the University of Frankfurt, but the academics pushed through his candidacy, and he soon advanced to become dean of the faculty.