Editing Walter Simons (section)

==Early life==
Walter Simons was born on 24 September 1861 at Elberfeld (today [[Wuppertal]]) in the Prussian [[Rhine Province]]. His family were [[Huguenot]]s who had come to the Rhineland after 1685. Walter's father was Ludwig Simons (1831–1905), a silk manufacturer. His mother was Helene Simons née Kyllmann (1842–1916).<ref name=Bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/ppn118614541.html|title=Biografie Walter Simons (German)|publisher=Bayerische Nationalbibliothek|access-date=26 January 2015}}</ref>

Walter Simons attended a ''[[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasium]]'' at Elberfeld and attained the ''[[Abitur]]'' in 1879. He went on to study law, economics and history at [[Strasbourg]], [[Leipzig]] and [[Bonn]]. [[Rudolph Sohm]] had an important influence on him. In 1882, he passed the ''Referendarexamen'' and then served in the military. In 1888, he passed the Prussian ''Assessorexamen'' and then served as an assistant judge at Bonn and Solingen. He married Erna Rühle (1870–1954) at Solingen in 1890. They had three sons and four daughters.<ref name=Bio/>