Walter Behrendt (September 18, 1914 in Dortmund - July 23, 1997) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and president of the European parliament (1971-1973).Behrendt was trained as a merchant and accountant. He took part in World War II and afterwards worked as clerk in an industrial firm. In 1954 he became a contributor to the company journal of Hoesch-Westfalenhütte AG in Dortmund.