Wolfgang Schuster

In 1975, he represented the CDU on Ulm city council before acting as personal assistant to Manfred Rommel from 1985 onwards.

In 1986, he was elected mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd where he was in office until 1993 before becoming burgomaster for the arts, education and sport in the Baden-Württemberg capital of Stuttgart in 1996.

In elections for the post of Lord Mayor of Stuttgart, he won the office in the second ballot on 10 November 1996, defeating Rezzo Schlauch, the candidate for the Alliance '90/The Greens on a relatively narrow margin of 43.1% versus 39.3%.

Schuster's political agenda includes the furthering of economic development and construction, intercultural dialogue and the promotion of child-friendly policies, among others.

As a representative of the Deutsche Städtetag, a voluntary coalition of county boroughs and district-affiliated towns in Germany, Schuster is a member of the broadcasting council of SWR radio.

After further legal wrangling appeals were submitted for a local referendum which experts subsequently deemed unlawful as contracts had already been signed and Stuttgart was not the main source (other backers include Deutsche Bahn, the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the EU).