In East Germany, he first completed an apprenticeship as Spitzendreher, a metalworking profession, before studying mathematics at the Dresden University of Technology.

The DSU was a right-wing party modelled after the Bavarian CSU,[5] which financially supported it in hopes of establishing a presence outside of Bavaria.

The German Social Union, as part of the victorious Alliance for Germany, entered government, Walther playing a role as leader of the DSU parliamentary group.

The party suffered from electoral decline,[9] was disorganized, both in terms of the internal organisation, most notably membership records,[8] of the party and the Volkskammer group; for example, the DSU held the deputy chairmanship of the Volkskammer's powerful budget committee, but the DSU swapped out its chairman two times in just half a year.

Walther called for their removal,[4] but to no avail, meaning the DSU was technically part of the de Maizière cabinet, but without representation.

Walther, alongside other East German political leaders, was appointed Minister for Special Affairs in the Third Kohl cabinet.

Walther had defended this so-called Huckepackverfahren (English: piggybacking), which has had historical precedent, for example in the 1957 West German federal election, from accusations of favoritism in the Volkskammer.