Career
Otto Schmidt was born on 1 August 1902 as the oldest of four children. After studying law and economics at the universities of Rostock, Leipzig, Munich and Cologne, he became a court clerk in 1924 court clerk. In 1925 he earned his doctorate of law, and became an assistant judge in 1928.
From 1930 he also worked as a lawyer in Cologne.
In 1944 he was called for military service. Schmidt ended the war as a prisoner.
