Karl Altenhenne was one of the founding members of the local group of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), but switched later to the KPD (Communist Party) and represented the KPD party group on Dortmund city council from 1928 to 1933. After the assumption of power by the Nazis, he was taken into preventive custody and held both at Steinwache police station and in Esterwegen concentration camp. Altenhenne was arrested by the Gestapo in February 1945 and subsequently murdered in Rombergpark in late March or early April 1945.
Altenhenne lived from 1938 to 1945 at Wengestrasse 9.