What is Karl Carstens?
{{Infobox President | name=Karl Carstens | nationality=German | image=Karl Carstens (cropped).jpg | order=5th [[President of Germany|President of the Federal Republic of Germany]] | term_start=1 July 1979 | term_end=30 June 1984 | predecessor=[[Walter Scheel]] | successor=[[Richard von Weizsäcker]] | birth_date={{birth date|1914|12|14|df=y}} | birth_place={{flag|German Empire}}, [[Bremen]] | death_date={{death date and age|1992|5|30|1914|12|14}} | death_place={{flag|Germany}}, [[Meckenheim (Rhineland)|Meckenheim]] | spouse=Veronica Carstens | party=[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] (since 1955); [[NSDAP]] (1940-1945) }} '''Karl Walter Claus Carstens''' (14 December 1914 - 29 May 1992) was a [[Germany|German]] politician. He served as the fifth [[President of Germany|Federal President]] of [[West Germany]]. == Biography == Born in [[Bremen]], Carstens studied law and political science at the universities of [[Frankfurt am Main]], [[Dijon]], [[Munich]], [[Königsberg]], and [[Hamburg]] from 1933 to 1936. In 1949 he received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from [[Yale Law School]]. Carstens joined the [[Nazi Party]] in 1940. This was when he was a law clerk. He said he had to join the party or he would not be treated fairly. But this does not explain why Carstens had joined the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]], another Nazi party group, in 1933. In 1955 he joined the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]. In July 1960 Carstens started to work for the government. He was a secretary of state in the [[Foreign Office of Germany|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]]. In the same year he was also appointed as professor for public and international law at [[Cologne]] [[University]]. During the Grand coalition government (1966-1969), he was in the [[Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany|Ministry of Defence]], and in 1968 he became Director of the [[German Chancellery|Chancellor's Office]]. In 1972 Carstens was elected into the [[Bundestag]]. He stayed a member until 1979. He often spoke against the [[left-wing]] ide