Sylvia Bretschneider (14 November 1960 – 28 April 2019) was a German teacher, education administrator and politician (SPD).

She was a member of the Landtag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern between 1994 and 2017, taking over as speaker of the state parliament in 2002, and serving in that office, formally, till her death.

Sylvia Bretschneider was born on 14 November 1960 in Waren (Müritz), a small town located between Rostock and Berlin.

In 1989 she switched careers, working for a year in a senior administrative position with the bus and transport company in her home town.

During the Wende – the months of massive political change that followed the breaching by protesters of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 – she joined the moderately left-wing Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).