Background
He was born in Königsberg and died in Kassel. Born in Königsberg as the son of the Law professor Gustav Adolf Arndt, he moved to Berlin very early with his family.
He was born in Königsberg and died in Kassel. Born in Königsberg as the son of the Law professor Gustav Adolf Arndt, he moved to Berlin very early with his family.
Then, Arndt studied Law, Economics and Philosophy at the University of Berlin and the University of Marburg.
There, he passed his Abitur at the Gymnasium Philippinum Marburg. After passing his second examination and promotion in Marburg in 1927, he worked as a lawyer in the famous law firm of Professor Doctor Max Alsberg. Since 1932, he worked as a judge, but retired in 1933, stating he did not want to join the Nazi Party.
Thus, he joined the law firm of Fritz Schönberg in Berlin, helping (among others) Wilhelm Leuschner and Theodor Leipart.
After being classified as half Jewish, Arndt was forced to compulsory labour in the Organisation Todt. In August 1945, Arndt was approved as a lawyer and notary in Marburg.
In November 1945, he became Ministerialrat (Head of Division) of Criminal law at the Ministry of Justice of Hesse. Arndt was married to Ruth Arndt (1901–1989), born Helbing.
Arndt died in Kassel.
From 1949-1961, he served as corporate attorney and secretary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany faction. From 1953-1961, he chaired the research group "Rechtswesen" of the Social Democratic Party of Germany faction. Arndt is most famous for his speech in the debate about statute-barred prosecution of Nazi crimes, in which he states to morally feel guilty about taking part in those crimes.
In many cases, Arndt represented the Social Democratic Party of Germany faction before the Bundesverfassungsgericht.
From March 11, 1963 to March 31, 1964, Arndt served as senator for science and arts in Berlin. Horst Ehmke, Carlo Schmid, Hans Scharoun (Editor), Festschrift für Adolf Arndt zum 65.
Geburtstag, Frankfurt am Main, 1969. Claus Arndt (Editor): Adolf Arndt zum 90.
Geburtstag - Dokumentation der Festakademie in der Katholischen Akademie Hamburg, Kath.
Akademie Hamburg und Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 1995.
His estate is at the archive of social democracy of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In addition to that, he served in 1951/52 as deputy managing director of the Bundestag board for Law and Constitutional law as well as deputy managing director of the Bundestag board for reviewing the administration of the Bund (the so-called Platow-Ausschuss).
Deutscher Werkbund]
Since 1945, Arndt was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. In the 1950s, he was member of the management and participated in creating the Godesberg Program. In 1948 and 1949, he was a member of the economic council of the Bizone, chairing the board for law, clerk law and "Doctor of Medicine-Eröffnungsbilanz" (statement of the financial conditions for the Deutsche Mark). From 1949-1969, Arndt was a member of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany.