Herbert Schnoor

Schnoor was born in Aurich on 1 June 1927. In 1944, he was conscripted into the Reich Labour Service before a brief stint in the military in World War II. After the war, he studied law, earning his doctorate in 1959. He began working in the government of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Ministry of Land and the Ministry of Culture. He also spent a brief time in the Federal Ministry of Health. For one year, he was director of personnel in North Rhine-Westphalia's Ministry of the Interior. Schnoor joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1965. He was appointed State Secretary for Science and Research of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1970 by Heinz Kühn. Five years later, he was appointed head of the Staatskanzlei des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.