From 1960–1969, Voigt studied history, German, and Scandinavian languages and literature at the universities in Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Frankfurt.
Political career
From 1969 until 1972, Voigt was chairman of the Jusos.
From 1976 to 1998, Voigt was a member of the German parliament, representing Frankfurt am Main I - Main-Taunus. In 1976, he was elected to the Bundestag for the first time. In 1983, the SPD parliamentary group made him their foreign policy spokesman; he held this office until leaving the parliament in 1998.