Vita
Michael Cramer was born June 16, 1949 in Gevelsberg/Westphalia. From 1969-1974 he studied education, music and physical education at the university of Mainz. Following his studies, he worked as a secondary-school teacher in the Neukölln district of Berlin from 1975-1995.
In the years 1989-2004 Michael Cramer was a member of the Berlin city-state parliament and served there as spokesman for transport for the Greens. He also worked as a lecturer at the Otto Suhr Institute of the Freie Universität Berlin, teaching urban and transport policy in the political science department. Today, Cramer regularly publishes articles and reports in various written media. He is author of following books: "Iron-Curtain-Trail", editions 1-3 as well as "Eiserner Vorhang", editions 1-3
For more than 30 years Michael Cramer has practiced automobile-free living in Berlin. He gets around the city by bicycle or with buses, trains and taxis. He has detailed knowledge of the conditions bicyclists face in Berlin, and has also enjoyed bicycle vacations on cycling routes in the United States, in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany.
Michael Cramer has been a Member of the European Parliament since 20th July 2004 and in this function speaker for the Greens in the committee on transport and tourism (TRAN). He is also a member of the delegation New Zealand, Australia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Moreover, he is a participating member ("mitwirkungsberechtigtes Mitglied") of the committee on the affairs of the European Union in the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag). Finally, Michael Cramer is spokesman for the parliamentary group of the association Europa-Union in the European Parliament and beginning 2011 he became vice-chairman of the newly founded Rail Forum Europe and member of the advisory board of the Hamburg based EURIST (European Institute for Sustainable Transport).
As a Member of the European Parliament, Michael Cramer initiated the project "Iron Curtain Trail", which extended the 160 km long "Berlin Wall Trail" to Europe. The "Iron Curtain Trail" covers morre than 9000 km and leads through 20 countries, 14 of which are today member states of the European Union. The project was passed in the European Parliament in 2005 by a big majority.
