Barbara Stamm (; 29 October 1944 – 5 October 2022) was a German politician of the

Christian Social Union in Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...

. She joined the CSU in 1969, was a member of the town council of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

from 1972, and a member of the

Landtag of Bavaria The Landtag of Bavaria, officially known in English as the Bavarian State Parliament, is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Bavaria. The parliament meets in the Maximilianeum in Munich. Elections to the Landtag are held every f ...

from 1976. She was vice-chair of the CSU from 1993 to 2017, and President of the Landtag from 2008 to 2018, the first woman in the position. She was regarded as the most popular Bavarian politician and as her party's "social conscience".

Life and career

Barbara Stocker was born in Bad Mergentheim on 29 October 1944 to a deaf mother.Advisory Board
''

Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie (Against Oblivion – For Democracy) is a German organization promoting diversity, tolerance and democratic participation, and opposing racism, prejudice and right-wing and left-wing extremism. It focuses in ...

''. She grew up with foster parents until age eight, when her mother came to take her home. She had an alcoholic stepfather, who hit her. At times she recovered in a Kinderheim. In the 1960s, she trained to be a kindergarten teacher ('')'', made possible by a loan from her religion teacher. She worked as Erzieherin and in the care of young people (''Jugendarbeit'') of the

Diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. She met her future husband at the time, who encouraged her to turn to politics.

Political career

Stamm joined the Christian Social Union (CSU) in 1969. She was a member of the town council of

from 1972 to 1987. She was a member of the Bavarian parliament from 1976 to 2018. She served as deputy chairwoman of the CSU from 1993 until 2017. She was from 1990 Bavaria's commissioner in Romania. From 1994 until 2001, Stamm was Bavarian State Minister for Health in the government of Minister-President

Edmund Stoiber Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he r ...

. From 1994 to 2001 she also was Deputy Minister-President of Bavaria. From 2008 to 2018 she served as President of the

. She was a candidate again in 2018, but due to her party's low result was not elected again. Stamm served as a CSU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

in 2004, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2017. In the negotiations to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections, she was part of the 15-member leadership circle chaired by

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...

and

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

Personal life

Stamm and her husband, Ludwig Stamm, had three children. One, Claudia Stamm (born 1970), was a member of the Bavarian Landtag, from 2009 until 2017 for the Alliance 90/The Greens, then until 2018 without party association. Barbara Stamm was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

in 2008, and again in 2018. Stamm died in Würzburg on 5 October 2022 at age 77.

Other activities

* , president from 2001 *

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

(BR), president of the Board of Directors (''Verwaltungsrat'') from 2008 to 2013 *

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

, member of the Board of Trustees, from 2019 honorary senators *

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

(TUM), member of the Board of Trustees (''Hochschulrat'') from 2015 * ''

'', member of the Advisory Board

Awards

Stamm received the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

in 1987, and the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

in 1990. She was awarded the

Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille The Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille (Bavarian Constitution Medal) is an award by the German state Bavaria, which is awarded annually by the Bavarian state parliament to persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Bavarian constitution. ...

in silver and gold in 1999. In 2000, she became an officer of the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

. In 2019, Stamm was honoured by the papal

Order of St Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

. Bishop

Franz Jung Franz Josef Johannes Konrad Jung (26 November 1888, Neisse, Upper Silesia – 21 January 1963, Stuttgart) was a writer, economist and political activist in Germany. He also wrote under the names Franz Larsz and Frank Ryberg. He grew up in Neisse ...

called her "an outstanding political personality who has always been known as a Christian and as a Catholic, even when she was criticized for it by dissenters" ("herausragende Politiker persönlichkeit, die sich stets als Christin, als Katholikin bekannt hat – auch dann, wenn sie von Andersdenkenden dafür kritisiert wurde"). The same year, she was named an honorary senator of the University of Würzburg.

References

External links

Ehemalige Landtagspräsidentin Barbara Stamm gestorben
(in German) '' Stern'' 5 October 2022
Trauer um Barbara Stamm: "Langjährige Förderin der Universitätsmedizin Würzburg"
(in German) ukw.de 5 October 2022
"Soziales Gewissen der CSU" – Barbara Stamm mit 77 Jahren verstorben
(in German tvmainfranken.de 5 October 2022
Barbara Stamm erhält Ehrenbürgerwürde der Stadt Würzburg
(in German)

31 March 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stamm, Barbara 1944 births 2022 deaths Presidents of the Landtag of Bavaria Members of the Landtag of Bavaria Ministers of the Bavaria State Government Women members of State Parliaments in Germany People from the Free People's State of Württemberg Christian Social Union in Bavaria politicians 20th-century German women politicians 21st-century German women politicians Dames of St. Gregory the Great Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Order of the Star of Romania German Roman Catholics People from Bad Mergentheim