Norbert Schindler (born October 15, 1949 inGrünstadt) is a German politician andlobbyist of theChristian Democratic Party of Germany who served as a member of theBundestag from 1994 bis 2017.
Schindler grew up in Rodenbach (Ebertsheim),RP. After attending aVolksschule, he completed an apprenticeship in agriculture and finally passed the examination to become a master farmer. He has been running his own agricultural and wine-growing business inBobenheim am Berg since 1972.[1] He is vice president of theGerman Farmers' Association, honorary president of the Rhineland-Palatinate South Farmers' and Winegrowers' Association and president of the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Agriculture. He was also a member of the board of directors ofLandwirtschaftliche Rentenbank.
Schindler isCatholic, married and the father of two children.[2]
He joined the CDU in 1966 and was a member of the Bobenheim am Berg municipal council from 1979 to 1989. In 1991, he was elected chairman of theBad Dürkheim CDU district association and in 1999 he became a member of the Bad Dürkheim district council (Kreistag).
Schindler was a member of theGerman Bundestag from 1994 to 2017. He always entered the Bundestag as a directly elected member of parliament for theNeustadt - Speyer constituency.
| Election | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2005 | 2009 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes # | 49,8%[3] | 46.3%[4] | 44,2 %[5] | 44.8%[6] | 71,481 (44.6%) | 77,345 (47.9%) |
In 2016, Schindler announced that he would retire from politics in 2017 and no longer run for the Bundestag.[7]
During his time in the parliament, Schindler was a member of theCommittee on Economic Affairs and Energy and a deputy member of theCommittee on Food and Agriculture.[8] At the same time, he was also a biofuel and agricultural lobbyist. He sat on the supervisory board of the bioethanol companyCropEnergies and received at least 30,000 euros a year for this. In the Bundestag, he defended the introduction ofE10 fuel against criticism from environmental organisations. For his participation in other aforementioned lobbyist associations, he receives between €1,000 and €3,500 per month. From 2005 to 2023, he was the honorary federal chairman of the Federal Association of the German Bioethanol Industry.[9][10][11][12]