Kolbow joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1967. Until 2008 he was chairman of the regional section of Unterfranken (Bavaria). He was its honorary chairman.
Between 1972 until 1976 Kolbow was member of the city council of Ochsenfurt, as well as between 1978 until 1981 of Würzburg.
In the 1980 West German elections, Kolbow became a Member of the German Bundestag.[2] Between 1994 until 1998 he was his parliamentary group's spokesperson for defense policy. As a result of the 1998 elections, he joined the Federal Government of ChancellorGerhard Schröder and was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defense under the leadership of successive ministers Rudolf Scharping and Peter Struck until 2005. During his time in office, he also served as Germany´s "Humanitarian Representative to Macedonia" coordinating humanitarian aid in Macedonia.[3] Moreover, Kolbow was well respected for his commitment to injured German soldiers because of radar radiation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[4]
Between 2005 and 2009, Kolbow was vice chairperson of the SPD parliamentary group,[5] responsible for foreign and development politics, defense matters and human rights since 2005. After 29 years of parliamentary work Kolbow retired from the German Bundestag in 2009.
After leaving active politics, Kolbow became counsel of the Berlin Consulting Group [1] supporting public and private institutions in the field of health in Europe. He also served as chairman of the "Commission on Security and Bundeswehr Issues" which gives advice to SPD´s federal steering committee.
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