Reinhart Kluter was born in Würzburg, a city in Lower Franconia, the northern region of the Bavarian state on the River Main.
He was born in the Federal Republic of Germany, which was founded in 1949 from the three western occupation zones after the Second World War. During the Cold War the state was commonly known abroad as West Germany.
Kluter practised law as a partner of a legal practice in Essen, West Germany. Essen is the fourth largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, with almost 600,000 inhabitants, and it hosts numerous businesses across a wide range of sectors.
Essen forms part of the Ruhr region, which developed around coal mining, steel production, and heavy industry. The city was the headquarters of major industrial enterprises, and its economy has long combined heavy industry with commercial and service activity.
A partner in a German law practice shares in the ownership of the firm and in responsibility for its professional work and management.
