Sylvia Bretschneider

Professional

Sylvia Bretschneider was born in Waren (Müritz), a small town located between Rostock and Berlin. She attended school locally, successfully completing her school final exams (Abitur) in 1979. Between 1979 and 1983 she attended the "Theoretical and Applied Language Sciences" sectiion at the "Karl Marx University" (as it was known at that time) in Leipzig, emerging with a teaching degree for the English and German languages. She worked as a teacher in Neubrandenburg between 1983 and 1989. In 1989 she switched careers, working for a year in a senior administrative position with the bus and transport company in her home town. She then worked, between 1990 and 1994, at the Neubrandenburg Education Department.

Political

During the GDR years Bretschneider was not a member of the SED (nor of any other political party). During the months of massive political change that followed the breaching by protesters of the Berlin Wall November 1989, she joined the moderately left-wing SPD, now re-emerging east of what had been the internal German border. Between 1991 and 2003 she became a member of the party's regional executive for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, becoming deputy chair in 1998 or 1999.

In 1994 she was elected to the Landtag (regional parliament) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Between 1994 and October 2002 she served as her party's spokesperson on training, youth policies and culture. In 2002 she was elected president of the Landtag, a position she has held since then. She was most recently re-elected in October 2016, receiving the votes of 45 of the chamber's 71 members.

Personal

Sylvia Bretschneider is married and has three children. By 2016 she has also three grandchildren.