HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fritz Steinhoff (23 November 1897 – 22 October 1969) was a German politician of the SPD. He was the third Minister President of the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
from 1956 to 1958.


Early life

Steinhoff was born in 1897 in a miner's family and grew up in
Unna Unna () is a city of around 59,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the seat of the Unna (district), Unna district. The newly refurbished Unna station has trains to all major cities in North Rhine Westphalia including Dortmund, Köln H ...
. He became a miner at the age of seventeen. Steinhoff was drafted into the Navy in 1917 and served on a torpedo boat until 1919. He returned to his job as a miner and joined the SPD. He belonged to a nationalistic section of the
Young Socialists in the SPD ''Working Group of'' Young Socialists ''in the SPD'' (, Jusos) is a volunteer youth organisation, youth organization of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). As of 2025, there are over 50,000 official Juso members. Membership Every ...
. In 1922, he went to the European Academy of Work in the University of Frankfurt to hear lectures about business and politics from lectures such as Franz Oppenheimer. Due to unemployment, Steinhoff went to Berlin, where he worked and attended Deutsche Hochschule für Politik.


Career

In 1926 he was a volunteer at the SPD party newspaper, Westfälische Allgemeine Volkszeitung (WAVZ), in Dortmund. A year later Steinhoff became managing director of newspaper distribution, and became the party secretary in Hagen. In the 1929 local elections, the SPD reached a majority, and Steinhoff was an honorary magistrate for Youth Sport Care and city gardening.


1933–1945

After the seizure of power by the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
, Steinhoff was arrested several times for vigorously opposing the party. He later worked at a stove and oven cleaning business from 1937 until his sentence in 1938, where Steinhoff was sentenced to three years in prison, due to smuggling the '' Vorwärts'' into Germany in 1934, after the banning of the newspaper in 1933. He worked again as a laborer after his release in 1941. After the assassination attempt on 20 July 1944, Steinhoff was arrested again and was sent to the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...
. In 1945, Steinhoff was in a
death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war, other captives, or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinct from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convention requires tha ...
, being liberated by American troops in Mecklenburg.


Rise in the SPD: 1945–1957

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Steinhoff became a city councilor for
Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...
. In 1946 he was the mayor of
Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...
. Despite the CDU having a majority in the city council after the local elections, Steinhoff retained his office until 1956. He was a member of the first Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, of which he was the Minister of Reconstruction in the cabinet of Karl Arnold. In 1950, Steinhoff became the Vice Chairman of the SPD group in the state parliament, and after the death of Fritz Henßlers in 1953, took over as the chairman, leading the party into the 1954 election, before losing to a coalition between the CDU and the FDP.


Social-liberal coalition: 1956–1958

After a conflict between the CDU/CSU and the FDP, the FDP turned on the CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia. Steinhoff was using the "Young Turks" in the FDP successfully in a motion of no confidence put against Arnold. The social-liberal coalition was dependent on support from the center, so the coalition made several reforms, including in the fields of research of nuclear energy and the reform of municipal financial compensation. In the parliamentary election of 1958, the SPD were able to win votes alongside the FDP and the center, but suffered electoral losses. The CDU won an absolute majority and Franz Meyers became Minister President.


Bundestag:1958–1965

Steinhoff was the chairman of the Ruhr Regional Association in 1958. In 1961, he won the direct mandate of the constituency of
Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...
, and moved into the Bundestag. He defended the mandate in 1965 and remained in office until his death. Steinhoff was also Mayor of Hagen from 1963 until 1964.


Honours

The city of Hagen gave Steinhoff honorary citizenship in 1967. The Fritz-Steinhoff comprehensive school was named after Steinhoff, and in 1989, a memorium was inaugurated in his honour.


References


External links

*
Biography
*
Wikiquote
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinhoff, Stein 1897 births 1969 deaths Politicians from Dortmund German resistance members Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Mayors of places in North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 1965–1969 Members of the Bundestag 1961–1965 Members of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-presidents of North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany