- Born on 6 December 1926 in Tübingen (D)

- Nationality: German

- Civil servant in the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry (1949‒1958)

- Member of the Permanent Delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the negotiations on a European agricultural union (the ‘green pool’) (1952‒1954)

- Participant in the Val Duchesse negotiations on the Rome Treaties, their compatibility with the GATT, and the free-trade area (1956‒1958)

- Civil servant in the Directorate-General for Agriculture in the EEC Commission, assistant of Director-General Lucien Rabot (1958‒1967)

- Director of General Affairs in the Agriculture DG of the Commission of the European Communities (1967‒1972)

- Deputy Director-General in the Agriculture DG of the Commission of the European Communities (1972‒1986)