Wolfgang Schuster (born 5 September 1949 in Ulm) is the former Lord Mayor of Stuttgart, Germany, from January 1997 until January 2013. He was the successor to Manfred Rommel and he is a member of the CDU. Career Studies and early positions Schuster studied law and political science in Tübingen, Geneva and Freiburg from 1969 to 1973. During his studies he joined Guestfalia Tübingen, one of Germany's largest Catholic student associations. From 1974 to 1976 he trained in Ulm before completing his doctorate in civil law. From 1976 to 1977 Schuster studied at the Paris École nationale d'administration (ENA). Political career 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%. On 24 October 2004, Schuster was re-elected to the post in the second ballot with 53.3% of votes. His opponents were Ute Kumpf (SPD), who gained 45.2% of votes in the 2nd ballot, and Boris Palmer (Alliance '90/The Greens) – who withdrew his candidacy after the first ballot, indirectly recommending that his supporters should back Schuster instead. On 6 December 2010 Schuster was elected president of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions. When completing his term as Lord Mayor on 6 January 2013, he was made "honoured citizen" (Ehrenbürger). His successor Fritz Kuhn is member of the German Green party, thus being the first post-war Mayor of Stuttgart not member of CDU. Political priorities Schuster's political agenda includes the furthering of economic development and construction, intercultural dialogue and the promotion of child-friendly policies, among others. He promotes the interests of intercultural dialogue and the sharing of religious ideas and is the founder of the Stuttgart Religious Round Table. 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. Schuster has a declared aim to turn Stuttgart into Germany's most child-friendly city. Achievements in office