Stefan Schostok

Stefan Schostok (born 12 May 1964) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party and was Mayor of Hanover from 11 October 2013 until 26 May 2019. From 2008 to January 2013 he served as a member of the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly. During that time, he was elected chairman of the SPD group in the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly (Landtag) in 2010, a position which he vacated in 2013. Education and Employment Schostok has lived in Hanover since 1971, having been a longtime resident of Isernhagen. In 1985 he obtained the Fachhochschulreife in the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gymnasium Hannover, and in the following two years, Schostok underwent his alternative civilian service in Isernhagen. Subsequently, he studied social pedagogy and in 1991 graduated as a trained social educator. From 1991 to 1995, Schostok was employed at the Bildungsnetzwerk Niedersächsischer Volkshochschulen. Later, in 1995 and 1996, he worked as a scientific employee at the political magazine SPW. From 1996 to 1999, he was a research assistant at the Foundation for Labour and Environment of the IG BCE trade union. Then, in 1999, whilst at the Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Klimaschutz (Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Climate Protection), he conducted public relations work on behalf of the ministry. In 2000, Stefan Schostok was elected chairman of the SPD district Hanover, one of the largest and most influential regions within the Social Democrats in Lower Saxony, and he served in this position until October 2009. Political career