Stefan Schneider was appointed German consul general in 2018, having previously served as head of the Cultural Affairs Department at the German Embassy in Rome. Schneider’s diplomatic career includes serving as head of the Legal and Consular Section in Thailand; head of the Trade and Commerce Section in Bulgaria; deputy consul general in Miami; counselor for Political Affairs in Paris and consul general in Izmir. He studied law in Munich and Cologne and also received a degree in French literature from the Sorbonne University in Paris. A native of Cologne, he speaks English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Bulgarian. He has family in the U.S. and looks forward to deepening the German-American friendship and strengthening family ties.