Here he met fellow aspiring politicians such as Eberhard Wildermuth, Karl Georg Pfleiderer, Konrad Wittwer and Wolfgang Haussmann.

During the Nazi era he worked as a lawyer; his wife Gerta Goldschmidt flew to the United Kingdom with their two children.

As such, he preceded the West German state by setting up a constitutional democratic system in competition with the burgeoning SPD and communist parties, and the French and American occupation authorities.

On 23 March 1933, he voted for the Enabling Act together with the other four liberal Reichstag deputies Hermann Dietrich, Theodor Heuss, Heinrich Landahl [de], and Ernst Lemmer.

The final sentence of his speech was: For the sake of people and country and in anticipation of a legitimate development, we will rescind our serious concerns and approve the Enabling Act.

[3] According to the informations of Theodor Heuss in his memoirs, the five liberal Reichstag deputies have initially been divided with respect to the Enabling Act.

Heinrich Landahl, Ernst Lemmer and Reinhold Maier voted in the Reichstag group for approval.