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{{Short description|German politician (born 1943)}}
[[Image:Erika Steinbach2.jpg|thumb|right|Erika Steinbach, Member of Parliament]]
{{BLP sources|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Erika Steinbach
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Erika Steinbach.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Steinbach in 2014
| constituency_MP = [[Frankfurt am Main II (electoral district)|Frankfurt am Main II]]
| parliament = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
| majority = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by adding a number-->
| term_start = 20 December 1990
| term_end = 24 October 2017
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|07|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Rahmel]], [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]], [[Nazi Germany]]
| birthname = Erika Hermann
| nationality = German
| party = [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] (1974–2017)<br>[[Alternative for Germany|AfD]] (since 2022)
| spouse =
| committees = [[Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid]] (2005–2017)
| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20170305183525/http://www.erika-steinbach.de/|www.erika-steinbach.de}}
| successor = [[Bettina Wiesmann]]
| predecessor = [[Rita Streb-Hesse]]
}}
'''Erika Steinbach''' ({{pronunciation|De-Erika Steinbach.ogg|pronunciation|help=no}}, born 25 July 1943)<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.deutscheundpolen.de/personen/person_jsp/key=erika_steinbach.html |title=Biografie: Erika Steinbach |work=Deutsche und Polen |publisher=[[Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg]] |access-date=23 July 2018 }}</ref> is a German right-wing [[politician]]. She previously served as a member of the [[Bundestag]] from 1990 until 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2015-08/cdu-erika-steinbach-rueckzug-politik |title=Erika Steinbach beendet 2017 Politikkarriere|newspaper=[[Die Zeit]] |language=de |date=7 August 2015|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref>
 
She was a member of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] from 1974 to 2017, and served as a member of the CDU national board 2000–2010, as a member of the leadership of the [[CDU/CSU]] parliamentary group and as the CDU/CSU's spokeswoman on [[human rights]] and [[humanitarian aid]] 2005–2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cducsu.de/Titel__arbeitsgruppen/TabID__13/SubTabID__15//InhaltTypID__1/Arbeitsgruppen.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026022439/http://www.cducsu.de/Titel__Arbeitsgruppen/TabID__13/SubTabID__15/InhaltTypID__1/Arbeitsgruppen.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2007 |title=CDU/CSU-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag: Themen – Arbeitsgruppen |publisher=Cducsu.de |access-date=8 March 2013 }}</ref> Steinbach belonged to the socially conservative wing of the CDU and opposes [[abortion]] and [[same-sex marriage]]. During the [[European migrant crisis]], Steinbach was critical of Chancellor Merkel's policies: in January 2017 she left the CDU over the migrant issue, from then on sitting as an independent member of the Bundestag. She did not stand in the [[2017 German federal election|September 2017 federal election]], therefore leaving the Bundestag. Instead, Steinbach has publicly endorsed the [[Alternative für Deutschland]] (AfD), though she did not become a member of the right-wing populist party.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/erika-steinbach-unterstuetzt-afd-im-bundestagswahlkampf-a-1148520.html|title=Erika Steinbach unterstützt AfD im Wahlkampf|work=[[Spiegel Online]]|last=Amann|first=Melanie|language=de|date=20 May 2017|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref> In 2018 Steinbach became President of the [[Desiderius-Erasmus-Stiftung]], a political foundation affiliated with the AfD.<ref name="fr.de">{{Cite web |url=https://www.fr.de/politik/erika-steinbach-neue-vorsitzende-afd-naher-stiftung-10989705.html |title=Erika Steinbach neue Vorsitzende AfD-naher Stiftung |date=4 March 2018 |website=www.fr.de}}</ref> A long-time member of the German-Israeli&nbsp;Association, Steinbach is also known for pro-Israeli views, and has often criticized the [[German Foreign Office]] for voting in favour of anti-Israeli resolutions at the UN.<ref name="zeit.de">[https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2018-10/antisemitismus-juden-muslime-islamophobie-widerspruch-afd Juden und die AfD, geht das zusammen?]</ref>
'''Erika Steinbach''' (born [[July 25]], [[1943]] as ''Erika Hermann'') is a [[Germany|German]] conservative [[politician]] who has been representing the [[CDU]] and the [[Hesse|state of Hesse]] as a member of the [[Parliament]] of Germany, the [[Bundestag]], since [[1990]]. She is elected from [[Frankfurt]]. She has also been president of the [[Federation of Expellees]] since [[1998]] (succeeding [[Fritz Wittmann]]), and besides that is a member of the national board of her party, the ''CDU-Bundesvorstand'' (since 2000), the board of the [[Goethe-Institut]], the board of the national broadcasting company [[ZDF]], and the board of the [[Landsmannschaft Westpreußen]].
 
SinceIn 2005,addition sheto is a member of theher parliamentary committeeactivity, forSteinbach humanwas rightspresident andof humanitarianthe aid[[Federation andof spokespersonExpellees]] forfrom human1998 rightsto of the CDU/CSU faction2014. Erika Steinbach has studied music and beenwas a member of concert orchestras before becoming a fulltime politician.
 
==Early life==
Because of the widely discussed plan to build a centre and monument against [[forced migration]] which her organisation is promoting, she has been especially well-known in some Central European countries with a record of expulsions.
Steinbach's father, Wilhelm Karl Hermann, was born in [[Hanau]] ([[Hesse]], western-central [[German Empire|Germany]]), but his family had their origins in [[Province of Lower Silesia|Lower Silesia]].<ref name="welt2">{{cite web | title= Erika Steinbach bestreitet Sinneswandel | work= Die Welt | url= http://www2.welt.de/data/2005/11/03/798145.html?s=2 | access-date= 3 November 2005 | language= de }}{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1941 he was stationed in [[Rumia]] ({{langx|de|Rahmel}}), a village in the [[Second Polish Republic]], which was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1939 as part of the newly created province of [[Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia]].<ref name="rbb">[[Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg]] online [http://www.deutsche-und-polen.de/_/personen/person_jsp/key=erika_steinbach.html]</ref> Wilhelm Karl Hermann served there as an airfield technician as a [[Luftwaffe]] Sergeant. Steinbach's mother, Erika Hermann (née Grote), was ordered to work in the town after the annexation as a [[Luftwaffenhelfer]].<ref name=rbb/> Steinbach was born there as '''Erika Hermann'''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://m.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/erika-steinbach-ein-handkuss-fuer-die-bestie-1638427.html|title=Erika Steinbach Ein Handkuss für die Bestie|date=23 May 2011|website=FAZ.NET |last1=Schuller |first1=Konrad }}</ref>
 
In January 1944, her father was deployed to the [[Eastern Front (WWII)|Eastern Front]]. In January 1945 during [[East Prussian Offensive]] of the [[Soviet Army]], Steinbach's mother together with her children, fled to [[Schleswig-Holstein]] in northwestern Germany.<ref name=rbb/><ref name="IPN">{{cite journal | first = Piotr | last = Szubarczyk | author-link =Piotr Szubarczyk |author2=Piotr Semków |date=May 2004 | title = Erika z Rumi | journal = Biuletyn IPN | volume = 50 | issue = 4 | pages = 49–53 |url = http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/getdocument.aspx?logid=5&id=28907138-3A87-4B20-B95E-8E8B41BA9C5D|language=pl}}</ref><ref name=ntv>[[n-tv]] {{cite web |url=http://www.n-tv.de/1113954.html |title="Rotes Tuch" für Polen – Erika Steinbach – n-tv.de |access-date=7 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409234315/http://www.n-tv.de/1113954.html |archive-date=9 April 2009 }}</ref> In 1948 the family moved to [[Berlin]], where Steinbach's grandfather had become mayor of one of the districts.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}
[[Image:Merkel-steinbach.jpg|thumb|right|Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] is greeted by Erika Steinbach at the annually reception of the Bund der Vertriebenen in Berlin in February 2006]]
 
In 1949, Wilhelm Karl Hermann returned from Soviet captivity. In 1950, the family moved to Hanau, Hesse where Steinbach finished her education and started studying the violin.<ref name=rbb/><ref name=ntv/> In 1967 she had to abandon her music career due to a damaged finger.<ref name=rbb/><ref name=ntv/> In 1972, she married Helmut Steinbach, the conductor of a local youth symphonic orchestra. Steinbach graduated from a school of civil administration and moved to [[Frankfurt am Main|Frankfurt]], where she started working for a Communal Evaluation Office.<ref name=rbb/><ref name=ntv/>
==Biography==
 
==Political career==
Erika Steinbach was born in [[Rumia]], [[Poland]], then under [[military occupation]]<ref name="Blum">
===Career in the CDU, Member of Parliament===
{{en icon}} {{cite book | author =Patrick Blum | title =The Battle for Expelee Memory | year =2004 | editor = | pages =11-13 | publisher =[[National University of Ireland]] | ___location =Maynooth | id =| url =http://www.nuim.ie/publications/research/research_record_2004.pdf | format =pdf | accessdate =February 26 }}</ref> by [[Nazi Germany]]. Her biography on the webpage of the German[[Bundestag]], which presumably reflects her own view of the issue, puts it somewhat differently, stating that she was born in ''Rahmel/Westpreußen'' (i.e. [[West Prussia]]) <ref>{{Web reference | title=Steinbach Erika | work=Bundestag biography | URL=http://www.bundestag.de/mdb15/bio/S/steiner0.html | date=2006-02-17}}</ref>. Her birthplace had been Polish and German at various times in history, and is also known as ''Rahmel'' in German<ref name="Bundestag">{{de icon}} {{Web reference | title=Steinbach Erika | work=Bundestag biography | URL=http://www.bundestag.de/mdb15/bio/S/steiner0.html | date=2006-02-17}}</ref>. Her father, Wilhelm Karl Hermann, was a [[Luftwaffe]] ''[[Feldwebel]]'' ([[Non-commissioned officer]] in the German air force) from [[Hanau]] in [[Hesse]], western-central [[Germany]], whose family was originally from [[Silesia]]<ref name="welt2">{{de icon}}{{Web reference | title= Erika Steinbach bestreitet Sinneswandel | work= Die Welt| URL= http://www2.welt.de/data/2005/11/03/798145.html?s=2 | date=2005-11-03}}</ref>. He was sent to Rahmel in 1941 and served as a technician at the local airport during the war, while her mother Erika (née Grote) lived in Berlin but visited the town occasionally. In January [[1944]] her father was sent to the [[Eastern Front (WWII)|Eastern Front]]. In January [[1945]], three months before the advancing Soviet army reached the area, Steinbach's mother decided to return to Germany and went to [[Schleswig-Holstein]] together with her children<ref name="IPN">{{pl icon}} {{cite journal | first = Piotr | last = Szubarczyk | authorlink =Piotr Szubarczyk | coauthors = Piotr Semków | year = 2004 | month = May | title = Erika z Rumi | journal = Biuletyn [[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]] | volume = 50 | issue = 4 | pages = 49-53 | id = | url = http://www.ipn.gov.pl/biuletyn5_40.pdf }}</ref>. After several years of wandering through various parts of Germany, in [[1948]] the family moved to [[Berlin]], where Steinbach's grandfather had become a mayor of one of the districts.
In 1974 she joined the Frankfurt branch of the CDU.<ref name=rbb/> In 1977 she was elected a member of the [[Frankfurt City Council]] and held that post until 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete17/biografien/S/steinbach_erika.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304120557/http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete17/biografien/S/steinbach_erika.html |url-status=dead |title=Bundestag biography |archive-date=4 March 2013}}</ref>
 
She was elected a member of the [[Bundestag]] in 1990, for the constituency of [[Frankfurt am Main III (electoral district)|Frankfurt am Main III]]<ref name=ntv/> representing that until 1998. Since 2005, she has represented the constituency of [[Frankfurt am Main II (electoral district)|Frankfurt am Main II]]. In 1990 she voted against the [[German–Polish Border Treaty (1990)]].<ref name=rbb/> In 1997 she criticized the approval of the Czech-German Declaration of Reconciliation.<ref name=rbb/>
The following year Wilhelm Karl Hermann returned from Soviet captivity and the family moved to his homeland in Hanau. There Steinbach finished her education and started studying violin play. In [[1967]] she had to abandon her music career due to serious bone illness. In [[1972]], after nine years of going out, she married [[Helmut Steinbach]], the conductor of a local youth symphonic orchestra. She then graduated from a school of civil administration and moved to [[Frankfurt am Main|Frankfurt]], where she started working for a Communal Evaluation Office. In [[1974]] he became the head of a sub-unit of that organization responsible for computerization of all public libraries in Hesse. The same year she joined the Frankfurt branch of the [[CDU]] party. In [[1977]] she was elected a chairman of the city council and held that post until [[1990]], when she was elected a member of the [[Bundestag]]. She became noted by the press for the first time when she was among the strongest opponents of German ratification of the border treaty with Poland. In [[1994]] she joined the [[Federation of Expellees]] and in May of [[1998]] became the head of that organization.
 
Since 2005, she has been a member of the German parliamentary [[Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid]] and spokesperson for [[human rights]] and humanitarian aid of the CDU/[[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Social Union]] fraction.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} She is also a deputy member of the parliamentary Committee for the Interior.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} Since 2000, she has been a member of the [[national board of the CDU]] (German, ''CDU-Bundesvorstand'').{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}
As Steinbach's parents had had no roots of any kind in the area of her birthplace, had been merely deployed there as part of their duties in the occupation forces and her birthplace was an accident<ref name="Blum"> </ref>, her legitimation to speak on behalf of the German expellees has been often questioned<ref name="tageszeitung">{{de icon}} {{cite journal | author = [[Gabriele Lesser]] | year = 2003 | month = [[September 19]] | title = Zentrum gegen Versöhnung | journal = [[Die tageszeitung|die tageszeitung]] | volume = 58 | issue = 12 | pages = | id = | url = http://www.taz.de/pt/2003/09/19/a0097.1/text }}</ref><ref name="zeit">{{de icon}} {{cite journal | author = Jörg Lau | year = 2004 | month = [[May 27]] | title = Gedenken mit Schmiss | journal = [[Die Zeit]] | volume = | issue = 23 | pages = | id = | url = http://www.zeit.de/2004/23/Steinbach-Portr_8at }}</ref>. However, as the [[1953]] German [[Federal Expellee Law]] includes all categories of people who had to leave for whatever reason the areas held by Germany during World War II, she has official expellee status<ref name="Law">{{de icon}} {{cite web | author = [[Bundestag]] | year = 1953 | url = http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bvfg/index.html | title = Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge | format = | work = Juris.de | publisher = German Ministry of Justice | accessdate = February 28 | accessyear = 2005}}</ref>.
 
In 2009, she was offered the position of Secretary of State in the [[Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)|Federal Ministry of Education and Research]], but declined.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jungefreiheit.de/Single-News-Display.154+M5d2f0100871.0.html |title=Single News Display – mit Kommentaren: JUNGE FREIHEIT – Wochenzeitung aus Berlin |publisher=Jungefreiheit.de |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307085916/http://www.jungefreiheit.de/Single-News-Display.154+M5d2f0100871.0.html |archive-date=7 March 2012 }}</ref>
One of her main aims is to build a controversial monumental [[Centre Against Expulsions]] ({{lang-de|Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen}}) in Berlin, devoted to the victims of forced population migrations or [[ethnic cleansing]] in Europe, particularly to the Germans [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|displaced after World War II]]. She is the chairwoman (jointly with [[Peter Glotz]]) of the recently created foundation of the Centre. The initiative, supported by the CDU/CSU faction in [[Bundestag (Germany)|German Parliament]], has caused much controversy, both in Germany and abroad. Steinbach was re-elected as president of the Bund der Vertriebenen by an overwhelming majority on [[May 8]], [[2004]]<ref name="BdV">{{de icon}}{{Web reference | author = | publishyear = 2004 | url = http://www2.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/presse/index.php3?id=94 | title = BdV-Präsidentin Erika Steinbach mit überwältigender Mehrheit wiedergewählt | format = | work = Bund der Vertriebenen website | publisher = BdV | date = May 8 | year = 2004}}</ref>
 
=== ExternalFederation linksof Expellees ===
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:Merkel-steinbach.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]] is greeted by Erika Steinbach at the annual reception of the Bund der Vertriebenen in Berlin in February 2006]] -->
* http://www.bundestag.de/mdb15/bio/S/steiner0.html
* http://www.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/derbdv/praesidentin.php3
* [http://www.z-g-v.de Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen (Official homepage)]
* http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/3182
* [http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2003-August/002908.html RFE/RL article about discussion about Centre]
 
Steinbach joined the [[Federation of Expellees|German Federation of Expellees]] in 1994. In May 1998 she was elected President of the organization, and was re-elected in 2000, 2002,<ref name=rbb/> 2004,<ref name="BdV">{{cite web|year=2004 |url=http://www2.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/presse/index.php3?id=94 |title=BdV-Präsidentin Erika Steinbach mit überwältigender Mehrheit wiedergewählt |work=Bund der Vertriebenen website |publisher=BdV |access-date=8 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040518021354/http://www.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/presse/index.php3?id=94 |archive-date=18 May 2004 |language=de |url-status=dead }}</ref> 2006, 2008 and 2010.<ref name="2010bestaetigt">{{Cite news |title=Steinbach im Amt bestätigt |work=KNA |date=23 October 2010 |url=http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1287569473763.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130211085421/http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1287569473763.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 February 2013 |access-date=24 October 2010 }}</ref> The Federation of Expellees claims to have 1.3 million members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/derbdv/struktur-1.php3 |title=BdV – Der BdV – Struktur |publisher=Bund-der-vertriebenen.de |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810224557/http://bund-der-vertriebenen.de/derbdv/struktur-1.php3 |archive-date=10 August 2013 }}</ref> This figure was disputed in January 2010 by the German news service [[DAPD News Agency|DDP]], which reported an actual membership of 550,000.<ref>Reported by ARD News service in January 2010 (The figure of 550,000 does not include the State of [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]). The news report mentioned that an expert in the area of expellees, Prof. [[Matthias Stickler]] of Würzburg University as saying that a decline in Federation of Expellees membership is understandable because it “mirrors the death of the generation of that era"[https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/bdvmitglieder100.html]</ref>
== References ==
:'''Inline:'''
<references/>
:'''General:'''
# {{pl icon}} {{cite journal | author = Danuta Zagrodzka | coauthors = Anna Rubinowicz-Gründler | year = 2003 | month = [[November 22]] | title = Erika Steinbach: tygrysica wypędzonych | journal = [[Gazeta Wyborcza]] | volume = 272 | issue = 47/WO | pages = 34 | id =ISSN 0860-908x | url = http://szukaj.gazeta.pl/archiwum/1,0,2259930.html?wyr=Tygrysica%2Bwyp%25EAdzonych%2B }}
 
The German Federal Expellee Law of 1953 defines as expellee all [[German citizenship|German nationals]] and [[ethnic Germans]] with a primary residence outside [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|post-war Germany]], who lost this residence in the course of the [[Expulsion of Germans after World War II|World War II-related flight and expulsions]].<ref name="Law">{{cite web|author = Bundestag|author-link = Bundestag| year = 1953 | url = http://bundesrecht.juris.de/bvfg/index.html | title = Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge | work = Juris.de | publisher = German Ministry of Justice | access-date = 28 February 2005|language=de}}</ref>
[[Category:1943 births|Steinbach, Erika]]
[[Category:German politicians|Steinbach, Erika]]
[[Category:Members of the German Bundestag|Steinbach, Erika]]
[[Category:Living people|Steinbach, Erika]]
 
Steinbach has distanced herself from the [[Prussian Trust]], that aggressively seeks restitution of German properties in Poland.<ref name="3sat.de">{{cite web|author=3sat.online |url=http://www.3sat.de/dynamic/sitegen/bin/sitegen.php?tab=2&source=/ard/buehler/97984/index.html |title=3sat.online |publisher=3sat.de |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
[[de:Erika Steinbach]]
 
[[pl:Erika Steinbach]]
Steinbach represents the Federation of Expellees on the board of the national broadcasting company [[ZDF]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unternehmen.zdf.de/index.php?id=306 |title=Die von Ihnen gewünschten Inhalte sind unter der aufgerufenen Adresse nicht oder auch nicht mehr vorhanden. |website=www.unternehmen.zdf.de |publisher=[[ZDF]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305183542/http://www.unternehmen.zdf.de/index.php?id=306 |archive-date=5 March 2012}}</ref>
 
=== Centre Against Expulsions ===
Erika Steinbach is the founder, along with [[Peter Glotz]], of the foundation [[Centre Against Expulsions]] ({{langx|de|Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen}}), which is working to establish a museum for the victims of "Flight, displacements, forced resettlements and deportations all over the world in the past century",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.z-g-v.de/english/aktuelles/?id=52|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607074650/http://www.z-g-v.de/english/aktuelles/?id=52 |url-status=dead |title=ZgV – Zentrum gegen Vertreibung: Franz-Werfel-Menschenrechtspreis 2016|archivedate=7 June 2011|website=www.z-g-v.de}}</ref> a project of the German federal government on initiative and with participation of the Federation of Expellees. The museum will contain a permanent exhibition to document expulsions including the [[expulsion of Germans after World War II]].
 
The federal government established the federal foundation "Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung" which is intended to be the basis of a future museum. The Federation of Expellees is entitled to appoint some of the board member, although they need to be confirmed by the cabinet.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
 
On 4 March 2009 the Federation of Expellees decided not to nominate Steinbach to the council and instead left one seat unoccupied, after the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] (SPD) threatened to veto Steinbach's appointment to the board.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/stiftungsrat-streit-mit-polen-vertriebenenbund-zieht-steinbachs-nominierung-zurueck-a-611206.html|title=Stiftungsrat-Streit mit Polen: Vertriebenenbund zieht Steinbachs Nominierung zurück|first=DER|last=SPIEGEL|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=4 March 2009}}</ref> On 19 October 2009, after the SPD was ousted from government and replaced by a liberal-conservative coalition dominated by Steinbach's party, Steinbach announced her intention to take the seat at the board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/379628_Kolejny_ruch__Eriki_Steinbach__.html |title=Kolejny ruch Eriki Steinbach |publisher=rp.pl |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> However, objections against her were subsequently also raised by the new foreign minister [[Guido Westerwelle]] of the liberal [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]].<ref>''Der Spiegel'': "Merkel wird den Fall Steinbach nicht los". 17 November 2009. [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,661738,00.html]</ref> However, Steinbach is supported by her own party and the CSU, both of which have called upon Westerwelle to give up his resistance, and have cited earlier statements by Westerwelle where he had praised Steinbach a few years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nachrichten.rp-online.de/article/politik/CDU-Generalsekretaer-Steinbach-hat-das-volle-Vertrauen-der-Partei/59085 |title=Politik-Nachrichten &#124; RP ONLINE.DE |publisher=Nachrichten.rp-online.de |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091123075108/http://nachrichten.rp-online.de/article/politik/CDU-Generalsekretaer-Steinbach-hat-das-volle-Vertrauen-der-Partei/59085 |archive-date=23 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/BILD/politik/2009/11/21/vertriebenen-chefin-erika-steinbach/aussenminister-guido-westerwelle-soll-sich-mit-ihr-versoehnen.html |title=CSU-General Dobrindt fordert: Westerwelle soll sich mit Vertrieben-Chefin Erika Steinbach versöhnen – Politik |language=de |publisher=Bild.de |date=21 November 2009 |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
 
In 2006 she was involved in an exhibition on the expulsions in Europe in the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/polish-press-review-exhibit-hurtful-to-polish-german-relations/a-2129971|title=Polish Press Review: 'Exhibit Hurtful to Polish-German Relations' {{!}} DW {{!}} 11 August 2006|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB|access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/league-of-german-expellees-unwilling-to-investigate-own-past/a-2135984|title=League of German Expellees Unwilling to Investigate Own Past {{!}} DW {{!}} 14 August 2006|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB|access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> The exhibition deals with expulsions of German, Armenians, Poles, Turks, Greeks, Latvians, Karelians, Ukrainians, Italians and other peoples – topics many Europeans are unfamiliar with.
 
===International human rights activism===
As the CDU/CSU spokeswoman for human rights, Erika Steinbach is involved in a number of activities promoting human rights worldwide.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
 
She was an expert speaker at the International Cuba Conference of the [[International Society for Human Rights]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ishr.org/index.php?id=836 |title=Experts and Speakers- International Society for Human Rights |publisher=Ishr.org |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
 
===Franz Werfel Human Rights Award===
Together with [[Peter Glotz]], she was the primary initiator of the [[Franz Werfel Human Rights Award]], and serves as a jury member together with [[Otto von Habsburg]], [[Klaus Hänsch]] and [[Otto Graf Lambsdorff]] among others. It has been awarded every second year since 2003 in the Frankfurt [[Paulskirche, Frankfurt|Paulskirche]]. The 2009 recipient was [[Herta Müller]].{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
 
===Membership of the CDU national board===
Steinbach was a member of the CDU national board from 2000 to September 2010, when she chose to resign from the position following a controversy over comments about the [[German invasion of Poland]]. Steinbach, in support of other members of her expellee organization, said that the German attack on Poland was just a response to Poland's mobilization, resulting in criticism of her.<ref name=ind>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/merkel-ally-quits-after-claiming-nazis-didnt-start-war-2076379.html |title=Merkel ally quits after claiming Nazis didn't start war | work=The Independent | first=Tony | last=Paterson | date=11 September 2010}}</ref> Steinbach's resignation was met with mixed feelings within the CDU/CSU. Some members were worried that her departure could cause a split, and a formation of a new right wing party in Germany.<ref name=ind/>
 
=== End of CDU membership ===
Steinbach left the CDU in January 2017, stating that Chancellor Angela Merkel's decisions during the European migrant crisis, which she called a violation of the German law, prompted her decision.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article161173232/Erika-Steinbach-verlaesst-die-CDU-und-wirft-Merkel-Rechtsbruch-vor.html|title=Erika Steinbach verlässt die CDU und wirft Merkel Rechtsbruch vor|newspaper=[[Die Welt]]|language=de|date=14 January 2014|access-date=9 August 2018}}</ref> She did not run in the 2017 federal election.
 
=== Affiliation with the AfD===
After leaving the CDU, Steinbach became informally associated with the AfD. In 2018 Steinbach became President of the [[Desiderius-Erasmus-Stiftung]], a [[Party political foundation|political foundation]] affiliated with the AfD.<ref name="fr.de"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fr.de/politik/desiderius-erasmus-stiftung-erika-steinbach-neue-vorsitzende-afd-naher-stiftung-a-1459978|title=Erika Steinbach neue Vorsitzende AfD-naher Stiftung|newspaper=[[Frankfurter Rundschau]]|language=de|date=4 March 2018|access-date=9 August 2018}}</ref> As President of the foundation, Steinbach has also advocated pro-Israeli views.<ref name="zeit.de"/>
 
===Interest in language===
Steinbach was member of the [[Goethe-Institut]] from 1994 to 2002.<ref>Munzinger Online, s.v. Erika Steinbach, accessed 12 September 2010</ref> She is also member of the [[Verein Deutsche Sprache]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vds-ev.de/bekanntemitglieder |title=Bekannte Mitglieder |publisher=Vds-ev.de |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208072648/http://vds-ev.de/bekanntemitglieder |archive-date=8 February 2017 }}</ref>
 
==Political positions==
Erika Steinbach was considered conservative within the CDU in most fields of policy, belonging to the initiators of the {{Interlanguage link|Berliner Kreis in der Union|lt=|de||WD=}}.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} Her work as a member of parliament focuses on human rights, and she is a strong critic of human rights violations in communist countries around the world.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}} She is also a strong supporter of the process of European integration.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}
 
Steinbach endorses the ''[[Federation of Expellees#Charter of the German Expellees|Charter of the German expellees]]'' of August 1950.<ref name=HA>{{cite web |url=http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article157312/Erika-Steinbach-ist-keine-Revanchistin.html |title=Erika Steinbach ist keine Revanchistin |first=Ralph |last=Giordano |date=27 February 2009 |publisher=Hamburger Abendblatt 27 February 2009 |access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>
 
===Social policy===
Erika Steinbach holds conservative views on social policy and opposes [[abortion]] and [[same-sex marriage]], which sometimes has caused controversy.<ref name="3sat.de"/>
 
===Immigration===
Since the onset of the [[European migrant crisis]], Steinbach has been one of the most vocal critics of Chancellor Merkel's refugee policies. This resulted in her leaving the CDU in January 2017; she said that allowing so many people into Germany for months without identifying them properly went "against our laws and against EU treaties" and that she could no longer support the CDU.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/longtime-merkel-critic-resigns-from-cdu-over-migrants/a-37136072|title=Longtime Merkel critic resigns from CDU over migrants {{!}} DW {{!}} 14 January 2017|website=DW.COM|language=en-GB|access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref>
 
==Perception==
Erika Steinbach is much more widely known in [[Poland]] and the [[Czech Republic]] than in [[Germany]].<ref name=CordellWolff149>{{cite book|title=Routledge advances in European politics. Volume 28. Germany's foreign policy towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik revisited|first1=Karl|last1=Cordell|first2=Stefan|last2=Wolff|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=0-415-36974-6|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WCjxIMz0o8QC&pg=PA149|access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref> According to Cordell and Wolff (2005), the political importance the [[Federation of Expellees]] has in German politics is overestimated in Poland and the Czech Republic because of its disproportional media presence in those countries and campaigns of "aggressively nationalist politicians".<ref name=CordellWolff149/>
 
===Criticism===
Steinbach's public pronouncements have been criticized by late President of Poland [[Lech Kaczyński]] for causing a deterioration in [[German-Polish relations]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,444037,00.html |title=Berlin-Warsaw Relations: Poles Apart – Spiegel Online |publisher=Spiegel.de |date=23 October 2006 |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> Steinbach has a negative reputation in Poland. One example of this was a 2003 cover montage of Polish news magazine ''[[Wprost]]'' that depicted her riding Chancellor [[Gerhard Schröder]] while wearing an [[SS uniform]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,721659,00.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-date=10 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080810210839/http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,721659,00.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2007 ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'', a popular newspaper in Poland, reproduced a leaflet<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/1/4383/z4383661X.jpg |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525095239/http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/1/4383/z4383661X.jpg |url-status=dead |title=polish leaflet of 2007 |archivedate=25 May 2011}}</ref> presenting Steinbach in the succession of the [[Teutonic Knights]] and the Nazis, and repeated claims of the full compensations never paid<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=ea5cd0b7-e759-445d-a85e-268a8f4415bc&articleId=80eb3e50-fa12-4da7-b2c7-b8f680bae54c |title=CEEOL The Polish Foreign Affairs Digest, Issue 1 (14) /2005 |publisher=Ceeol.com |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://remember.org/educate/dingell.html |title=The Question of the Polish Forced Labourer during and in the Aftermath ofWorld War II: The Example of the Warthegau Forced Labourers |publisher=Remember.org |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> to Poland for losses caused by Nazi Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80273,4383674.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715142437/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80273,4383674.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 July 2012 |title=Powiernictwo Polskie: Ulotka ze Steinbach na tle nazisty |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
 
Polish ambassador to Germany, [[Marek Prawda]], Poland's Foreign Minister [[Radosław Sikorski]] and Polish Prime Minister [[Donald Tusk]] expressed unease with Steinbach's appointment to the board of the [[Center against Expulsions]] in February 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4057645,00.html |title=Merkel Ally Says She Won't Insist on Disputed Museum Post &#124; Europe &#124; DW.DE &#124; 28.02.2009 |publisher=Dw-world.de |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> [[Władysław Bartoszewski]], an [[Auschwitz]] survivor who is Poland’s commissioner on relations with Germany, said that giving Mrs Steinbach a seat on the board would be akin to the Vatican appointing a Holocaust denier like [[Richard Williamson (bishop)|Richard Williamson]] to manage relations with Israel.<ref name="thenational.ae">{{cite web |author=- Friday |url=http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090223/FOREIGN/422245904/1013/NEWS |title=World news and international headlines – The National |publisher=Thenational.ae |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201170717/http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090223/FOREIGN/422245904/1013/NEWS |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}</ref> On 16 September 2010, Steinbach attested Bartoszewski "a bad character" on German TV.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,717858,00.html |title='A Bad Character': Expellee Leader Steinbach Insults Veteran Polish Politician – Spiegel Online |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=16 September 2010 |publisher=Spiegel.de |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref> At the time the Polish foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, privately warned Berlin that allowing Mrs Steinbach’s appointment would shake German-Polish relations “to their foundations”.<ref name="thenational.ae"/> "Do people whose families lived there for generations want to be identified with a person like Mrs. Steinbach, who came to our country with [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] and had to leave it with Hitler too?" Sikorski said in Brussels on 23 February 2009, referring to Steinbach’s father having moved to German-occupied Poland during the war<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aVlnY6l646Ag&refer=germany | work=Bloomberg | title=Merkel, Tusk Meeting Overshadowed by Postwar German Expulsion | date=27 February 2009}}</ref> and asked her to follow the example of President Horst Köhler, who was born within a family of wartime German settlers in Poland and never considered himself an expellee.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wyborcza.pl/1,86871,6315910,Erika_Steinbach_Reconciles.html |title=Erika Steinbach Reconciles |publisher=Wyborcza.pl |date=25 February 2009 |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202092826/http://wyborcza.pl/1,86871,6315910,Erika_Steinbach_Reconciles.html |archive-date=2 February 2014 }}</ref> The fact that Steinbach represents a person born to a German officer stationed in occupied Poland has been described as one of the essential issues for Poles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/9133,269112_Semka__Polska___Niemcy__Czas_niezrozumienia_.html |title=Semka: Polska – Niemcy. Czas niezrozumienia |publisher=rp.pl |date=27 February 2009 |access-date=8 March 2013}}</ref>
 
[[Václav Havel]], the former president of the Czech Republic and anti-communist dissident, was said to refuse to speak to Steinbach due to the positions taken by the [[Federation of Expellees]] under her leadership.<ref name=ind/>
 
According to an editorial in the [[Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger]], the Polish criticism may be part of an "[[Anti-German sentiment|anti-German]] campaign" in which Steinbach has become the "enemy stereotype"<ref>[http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1233584090458.shtml Feindbild Erika Steinbach] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120918214809/http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1233584090458.shtml |date=18 September 2012 }} [[Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger]], 1 March 2009 {{in lang|de}}</ref> and "demonization of Steinbach is a kind of reason of state".<ref name=sued>[http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/causa-erika-steinbach-wahn-und-raserei-1.70087 Wahn und Raserei] [[Süddeutsche Zeitung]], 8 January 2010</ref> The way she is portrayed to the Polish public has been described by some German editorial writers as having "hysteric features"<ref>[http://www.taz.de/!30939/ Merkels Eiertanz um Erika Steinbach] [[Die Tageszeitung]], 24 February 2009 {{in lang|de}}</ref> or a "psychosis".<ref>[http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/Die-Steinbach-Psychose-der-Polen_aid_680061.html Die "Steinbach-Psychose" der Polen] [[Rheinische Post]] 3 March 2009 {{in lang|de}}</ref> Some German media blame members of [[Law and Justice]] for having used her as a "hate figure" in internal politics to counter [[Donald Tusk]]<ref>[https://archive.today/20120803011619/http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/politik/Ein-Popanz-namens-Erika-Steinbach-id810478.html Ein Popanz namens Erika Steinbach] [[WAZ-Mediengruppe|Der Westen]], 25 February 2009 {{in lang|de}}</ref> ignoring Steinbach's "real views".<ref name=sued/>
 
===Lecture controversy===
In May 2008 Steinbach started a series of lectures about the "[[History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|German settlement in Eastern Central Europe]]" at the [[University of Potsdam]]. However demonstrations by left-wing students who protested against Steinbach's allegedly revisionist views on German history by throwing water filled balloons and blocking the entrances compelled her to cancel the further lectures.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/article2061642/Erika-Steinbach-sagt-Vortraege-nach-Protesten-ab.html |title=Universität Potsdam: Erika Steinbach sagt Vorträge nach Protesten ab|first=Swantje |last=Wallbraun |newspaper=Die Welt|date=3 June 2008 |via=www.welt.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/uni/uni-potsdam-polizei-loest-sitzblockade-gegen-steinbach-vortrag-auf-a-556128.html |title=Uni Potsdam: Polizei löst Sitzblockade gegen Steinbach-Vortrag auf |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=28 May 2008 }}</ref> On 11 June 2008, a full meeting of the students council decided (with 146 against 7 votes) to protect the right of freedom of opinion and speech and invited Steinbach again, if necessary under police protection. The local Mayor, supported by several political parties, expressed his displeasure about the incident and requested that the university council invite Steinbach again.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maerkischeallgemeine.de/cms/beitrag/11224669/60709/Oberbuergermeister_fordert_Universitaet_auf_sich_dem_Konflikt_zu.html |title=Märkische Allgemeine, Oberbürgermeister fordert Universität auf sich dem Konflikt zu stellen}}</ref>
 
==Honours==
On 9 July 2009, she was awarded the [[Bavarian Order of Merit]] by Prime Minister of Bavaria [[Horst Seehofer]] for her work for the rights of the victims of the Expulsion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayern.de/Fotoreihen-.1589.10261791/index.htm |title=Bayerisches Landesportal: Bayerischer Verdienstorden für Erika Steinbach |publisher=Bayern.de |access-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216064534/http://www.bayern.de/Fotoreihen-.1589.10261791/index.htm |archive-date=16 February 2012 }}</ref>
 
==External links==
* {{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20130304120557/http://www.bundestag.de/bundestag/abgeordnete17/biografien/S/steinbach_erika.html Bundestag biography]
* {{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20031219194937/http://www.bund-der-vertriebenen.de/derbdv/praesidentin.php3 Federation of Expellees]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060822081443/http://www.z-g-v.de/english/index.html Centre Against Expulsions]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031228113034/http://www1.warsawvoice.pl/view/3182 The Warsaw Voice] newspaper article, "Border Dispute", 2003
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041010095211/http://lists.delfi.lv/pipermail/minelres/2003-August/002908.html Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] article about Centre Against Expulsions, 2003
* [http://www.osw.waw.pl/sites/default/files/punkt_widzenia_23.pdf It's not (only) about Erika Steinbach]
* [https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article9489105/Steinbach-loest-Eklat-in-der-Unionsfraktion-aus.html Steinbach löst Eklat in der Unionsfraktion aus]
 
==References==
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