 From 1950 to 1956 he studied political science at the Hochschule für Politik in West Berlin, where he received his diploma.Afterwards he worked as the director of a folk high school in Herford and as the business leader of an employers' association in Bielefeld.In 1965 he went independent and founded the "Verlag für Volkstum und Zeitgeschichtsforschung" ("Publishing House for Folklore and Contemporary Historical Research") in Vlotho.