| Date | Biography |
|---|---|
| 1919 | Born on 8 July in Solingen |
| 1939–1942 | Career in banking interrupted by military service (in the Luftwaffe, First Lieutenant) |
| 1946 | Joined the Free Democratic Party (F.D.P.) |
| 1948 | Town councillor in Solingen |
| 1950–1953 | Member of the parliament of Land North-Rhine/Westphalia |
| 1953–1974 | Member of the F.D.P. Executive Committee of Land North-Rhine/Westphalia |
| 1956–1974 | Member of the F.D.P. Federal Executive Committee |
| 1955–1957 | Member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community |
| 1958–1969 | Member of the European Parliament (Vice-President of the Liberal parliamentary group, Chairman of the Committee for cooperation with developing countries) |
| 1961–1966 | Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development under Chancellors Adenauer and Erhard |
| 1967–1974 | Deputy Chairman of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation |
| 1968–1974 | Vice-President of the World Liberal Union, a federation of liberal parties and organizations of all countries |
| 1968–1974 | Chairman of the Free Democratic Party |
| 1969–1974 | Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chancellor |
| 1974–1979 | President of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| 2016 | Died on 24 August in Bad Krozingen |
Walter Scheel was Protestant. His first wife, Eva Charlotte Scheel, née Kronenberg, died on 2 September 1966 after they had been married for 24 years. In 1969, he married the radiologist Dr Mildred Wirtz, who later founded German Cancer Aid. Mildred Scheel died on 13 May 1985. The couple had four children. In 1988, Walter Scheel got married to Barbara Wiese.