Uwe Tros­tel was born in 1941 as a “Sude­ten German” in Reichen­berg (today Libe­rec, Czech Repu­blic). After the end of the war, he and his wido­wed mother were resett­led to a small village in Thurin­gia. As a dili­gent school student and the son of a working-class single mother, Tros­tel was offe­red the chance to conti­nue his further educa­tion and join the ranks of the intel­li­gent­sia in the GDR. He trai­ned as an indus­trial clerk before going on to study indus­trial econo­mics (1960–1963) and Volks­wirt­schaft (1968–1973).

In 1963, Tros­tel joined the Bezirks­plan­kom­mis­sion in Magde­burg and became its direc­tor in 1978. He was then appoin­ted to the Staat­li­che Plan­kom­mis­sion as head of the Central State Inspec­tion for Invest­ments in 1987. From 1990 to 1992 he was dele­ga­ted through the Plan­kom­mis­sion to serve in the Treu­hand­an­stalt. He then worked with with a private advi­sory company in the 1990s, inclu­ding in Russia and Ukraine.

Today, he conti­nues in various volun­t­ary posi­ti­ons, inclu­ding in the “Gene­ral­di­rek­to­ren­sa­lon” der Rohn­stock Biografien.