Walter Langleist was born in Dresden on 5 August 1893. The trained mechanic entered the NSDAP and the SS during the National Socialist era. He progressed through various stations in the Protection Squad, and from 1941, was head of the SS guard of Buchenwald concentration camp.

He then became Commander of the SS guard at the Lublin Majdanek concentration camp, which was founded in Poland only a few weeks after the Wehrmacht attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, as well as at the Dachau concentration camp.

In September 1944, he assumed the post as Commander of the Landsberg/Kaufering concentration subcamp complex. However, in November of that same year he was removed from his post again, because he fell out with the construction leader of the armaments project who had called for more sanitary facilities and a delousing system for the camp. Langleist was relocated to Mühldorf concentration subcamp complex.

According to reports, he is said to have attempted to make Mühldorf concentration subcamp complex independent of Dachau concentration camp. To this end, he created the position of Adjutant in Mühldorf, which had never existed in these camps before.

Charges were brought against Langleist in the Dachau camp trial and he was sentenced to death. He was hanged in Landsberg on 28 May 1946.