Albert Probst (29 December 1931 – 24 March 2015) was a German politician for the

Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German language, German: , CSU) is a Christian democracy, Christian democratic and Conservatism in Germany, conservative List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. Having a regionali ...

. From 1982 to 1991 he was parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology.

Education and occupation

Probst was born in

Garching bei München Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching. History Spatial urban planning Garching wa ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (, ; ) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat of the district gove ...

. After graduation in 1951 from the Maximilians Gymnasium in Munich, Probst took an agricultural apprenticeship. He then studied

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

s at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, graduating in 1958 with a diploma as an agricultural engineer. In Munich, he served in the Catholic student group K. D. St. V. Agilolfia in

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Isar river in ...

. He then joined the agricultural

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, working at the milk research institute at TU Munich. He left this institute in 1961, after completing research. He returned to TU Munich in 1963, after two years as an agriculture adviser in France, to work on a research project concerning

population genetics Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and among populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as Adaptation (biology), adaptation, s ...

. At this time he began to participate in municipal politics.

Party

Probst was deputy chair of the culture team of the Christian Socialist Union for many years.

History

From 1960 to 1973 he belonged to the country of the circle day of the district of Munich. He was also a member of the Garching local council from 1966 until 1990. From 1969 to 1998 Probst was a member of the

German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...

. He was chair of the Committee on Development and Science from 1972 to 1976, and from 1976 to 1982 chaired the Committee on Research and Technology. Until 1982, he chaired the science development team and served as spokesperson for the Christian Socialist Union rural group. Probst was a directly selected delegate of the Munich/Freising constituency in the Bundestag. From 1991 to 1999 he represented Germany at parliamentary meetings of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, and at

the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often des ...

Public offices

On 4 October 1982 Probst became Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology, in the federal government led by Chancellor

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

. Here he advocated the early provision of computers in schools. He served until the Bundestag election in 1990, leaving government on 24 January 1991.

Family

Probst is married and has four children.

References

Records of and about Probst
in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...