Maria Schneider

Maria Schneider (born 9 February 1923) is a German former (SED) politician. She was a member of the East German State Council between 1967 and 1971.

Life Maria Schneider was born in Merka (Měrkow) a rural German settlement then of approximately 160 inhabitants, 10 km (6 miles) north of Bautzen and approximately 25 km (15 miles) north of the frontier with a recently created country called Czechoslovakia. Her father was a Sorbian farm worker. She left school at fifteen and embarked on a three-year commercial apprenticeship which lasted from 1938 till 1941. After this she worked as a commercial assistant and secretary.

A period of study followed, and until 1964 she attended the Industrial Institute at the Ilmenau University of Technology, emerging with a degree in Engineering Economics. In 1964 she became an assistant to the Economics Director with the large Bautzen facility of the "VEB Fernmeldewerk Leipzig" telecommunications corporation, herself becoming the Economics Director in 1971.

As the institutions of the young country settled down, Maria Schneider moved into politics. She had already served as a "community representative" from 1949 until 1953, and in 1957, she became a local councilor for the Bautzen district. In 1967 she moved into national politics, sitting as a representative of the Trades Union Federation (FDGB) in the National Legislature (Volkskammer), where she continued to sit until 1976. Between 1971 and 1976, she was also a member of the assembly's Committee for Industry, Construction and Transport. In addition, between 1967 and 1971, she was a member of the State Council in succession to Christel Pappe.