Rudi Arndt (1 March 1927 – 14 May 2004) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

At different points in his political career he was a member of the Landtag of Hesse and the European Parliament as well as the Frankfurt City Council.

His father, Konrad Arndt, was a trade union secretary, and was imprisoned by the Nazis for a short while.

In 1938 the senior Arndt was released from prison, after which he conscripted in the army to avoid persecution from the Gestapo.

[1] Rudi Arndt's mother, Anna Babette, was also a social democrat and local politician in Frankfurt.

He was expelled from college for making comments critical of the Nazi regime, conscripted into the army and ordered to the Eastern Front.

As a result, CDU politician Walter Wallmann became the new Mayor of Frankfurt and Arndt became the opposition leader in the Hessen Landtag.