 He graduated from the Friedrich-Wilhelm high school, and served as an artillery officer in World War I.From 1918 to 1922, he studied law at the University of Marburg, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin, and the University of Bonn.He completed a legal clerkship, passed the "staatsexamen" in law, and received a doctorate of law from the University of Bonn in 1925.