Background
Schnitzler was born in Ohnastetten, now part of Saint Johann, in the District of Reutlingen.
Schnitzler was born in Ohnastetten, now part of Saint Johann, in the District of Reutlingen.
He had a diploma in agricultural management and was a certified assessor of wildlife damage. While managing his property part-time, from October 1962 to December 1974 he was a district councillor and deputy mayor in Ohnastetten and also served as a lay judge in the state court at Tübingen. In January 1962 he was elected president of the then agricultural association of Reutlingen and in 1975 he united it with its counterpart in Münsingen to form the agricultural association of the District of Reutlingen (Kreisbauernverband Reutlingen eV).
He served as its chairman (Kreisobmann) from 1975 to 1992.
During this time he also co-founded the landholders" association of Baden-Württemberg (Landesbauernverband in Baden-Württemberg) and became its first lobbyist in the state parliament. He worked in close association with the Minister-president, Lothar Späth.
The Minister of Agriculture, Gerhard Weiser. The Minister of the Environment Hermann Schaufler.
The first president of the landholders" association, Ernst Geprägs.
And the Baden-Württemberg state Ministry of agricultural land and the protection of land-use (Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg). Schnitzler was the first representative of agriculture for the entire District of Reutlingen, and from 1992 until his death in 2011, was honorary chairman of the district agricultural association and a docent at the "Swabian Farmers" School" in Bad Waldsee. He played an important role in founding both the women"s agricultural association of Reutlingen and the women"s choir.
Schnitzler"s political and lobbying efforts focussed for the most part on farming, in particular dairy farming and milk processing.
He introduced changes that aroused much discussion throughout the country. He introduced an annual meeting of the agricultural association in Saint Johann on Presentation Day, February 2nd.
He was also a business manager in dairy: he was assistant manager of the Reutlingen dairy plant and chairman of the board of the local dairy producers" association. He continued to advise it as honorary chairman until his death.
He also served as both chairman of both the supervisory board and Vorstand of Südmilch AG, Germany"s largest milk producer, after a financial scandal in the early 1990s.
He was able to overcome the problems and the company was subsequently sold to what is now FrieslandCampina and became Campina GmbH.
After Ohnastetten was incorporated into Saint Johann, he served from 1975 to 1996 as its district representative and a member of the councils there and in Saint Johann.