From 1960 to 1968, Schnell attended the Polytechnic Secondary School, followed by completing his Abitur (university entrance qualification) in 1972. From 1972 to 1975, he served in the National People's Army (NVA).[1][2][3]
He studied physics at the Technical University of Magdeburg from 1975 to 1980, earning a degree as a graduate physicist (Dipl.-Phys.).[1][2][3]
Schnell then worked as a scientific assistant at the same university until 1983. Starting in 1983, he was a research associate at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR and completed his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.) in 1984.[1][2][3]
From 1988, he served as a department head at the Academy of Sciences' High-Pressure Research Institute in Potsdam.[1][2][3][4]
During the Peaceful Revolution, in October 1989, Schnell joined the newly reconstituted Social Democratic Party in the GDR.[1][2][3] He became one of the founding members of the SPD in Potsdam,[4] serving as its managing director during the 1990 election campaign.[1][2][3][4]
In the first free elections in the GDR, Schnell was elected to the Volkskammer in March 1990 for Bezirk Potsdam, being the ninth-placed candidate on the SPD's list. He was thereafter appointed as minister for post and telecommunications in the cabinet of Lothar de Maizière.[1][2][3][4]
During Schnell's tenure, the ministry focused on modernizing East Germany's postal and telecommunications infrastructure to align with West German standards. This initiative aimed to enhance private communication, support economic growth, and address the GDR's outdated systems, including long postal delivery times and a poorly developed telecommunications network. Significant investments were required, alongside efforts to integrate approximately 130,000 employees from the Deutsche Post of the GDR into the Deutsche Bundespost. Schnell additionally raised the postage against the resistance of other SPD ministers.[4][5]
In August 1990, Schnell and all other SPD ministers resigned in the aftermath of de Maizière's dismissal of SPD finance minister Walter Romberg.[1][2][3] Hans-Jürgen Niehof, one of Schnell's state secretaries, served as acting minister until German reunification.
Schnell was one of 144 Volkskammer members co-opted to the Bundestag following German reunification on 3 October 1990. He remained a member of the Bundestag until the end of the 14th legislative period in October 2002,[1][2][4] retiring from politics. In the 1990, 1994, and 1998 federal elections, he won the direct mandate in the Potsdam constituency.[2][3]
Schnell now lives as a freelance physicist in Potsdam.[1][3] He is married and has two children.
