Walter Behrendt was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party and president of the European parliament.
Career
Behrendt was trained as a merchant and accountants He took part in World World War II and afterwards worked as clerk in an industrial firm. In 1954 he became a contributor to the company journal of Hoesch-Westfalenhütte AG in Dortmund.
He was chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany branch in Dortmund-Altenderne in 1951/52 and in Dortmund from 1952 to 1955.
From 1952 until his death Behrendt was municipal councillor in Dortmund. Between 1961 and 1967 he was assistant chairman of the Labour Committee.
He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto in 1973.
Politics
Behrendt joined Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1932 being a member of the Socialist Working Youth (Sozialistische Arbeiterjugend). From 1945–1947 he was chairman of the regional Socialist Youth for Dortmund, Lünen and Castrop-Rauxel.
Membership
In 1957 he was elected member of the Bundestag (electoral constituency: Dortmund III) and remained in office until 1976. Additionally, Behrendt was member of the European Parliament from 1967 to 1977 where he served as vice-president (1969-1971, 1973-1977) and president (1971-1973). Behrendt was also member of the supervisory board of Dortmunder Stadtwerke AG and Dortmunder Hafen und Eisenbahn AG.