Karl Carstens was born in Bremen on December 14, 1914.

After studying law in Frankfurt am Main, Greifswald, Dijon, Munich, Königsberg and Hamburg, which he successfully completed after his first state examination in 1936, his doctorate in 1938 and his second state examination in 1939, he took part in the Second World War as a soldier in the anti-aircraft artillery.

After the war, he worked as a lawyer and legal advisor for various authorities and organizations in Bremen and studied at Yale. In 1954, he joined the Foreign Service of the Federal Republic of Germany, rising to the position of Deputy Federal Foreign Minister after holding the post of Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. In the 1960s, he was also State Secretary in various federal ministries.

Between 1972 and 1979, he sat in the Bundestag for the CDU. From 1973 to 1976, he was Chairman of his parliamentary group and subsequently President of the Bundestag. On May 23, 1979, the Federal Assembly elected him as the fifth President of the Federal Republic of Germany. He held the highest office in the state for one term.

On his inaugural visit to Hesse in this capacity, he signed the Golden Book of the City of Wiesbaden at a festive reception in the town hall on September 2, 1979.