Stephanie Aeffner
{{Short description|German politician (1976–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Stephanie Aeffner
| office = Member of the Bundestag
for Baden-Württemberg
| image = Stephanie Aeffner aus dem grünen Landesvorstand (23699855752) (cropped).jpg
| caption =
| term_start = 26 October 2021
| term_end = 15 January 2025
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1976|4|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = Donaueschingen, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|1|15|1976|4|29|df=y}}
| death_place =
| party = Greens
| nationality = German
| children =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
| predecessor = Multi-member district
| constituency = Alliance 90/The Greens List
| successor = Johannes Kretschmann
}}
Stephanie Aeffner (29 April 1976 – 15 January 2025) was a German politician from Alliance 90/The Greens who served as a Member of the Bundestag from 2021 until her death. She served on the parliament's Committee on Labour and Social Affairs and on the Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. As an affected person, she advocated for the interests of people with disabilities.
Early life
Aeffner grew up in Frankfurt.{{cite news |last1=Hahn |first1=Nikola |title="Barrierefreiheit ist eine ganz große Gerechtigkeitsfrage" |url=https://www.fgq.de/barrierefreiheit-ist-eine-ganz-grosse-gerechtigkeitsfrage/ |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=fgq.de |date= |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202195435/https://www.fgq.de/barrierefreiheit-ist-eine-ganz-grosse-gerechtigkeitsfrage/ |url-status=live}} After graduating from the {{ill|Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymnasium (Frankfurt)|de|Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymnasium (Frankfurt am Main)|lt=Friedrich-Dessauer-Gymnasium}} in 1995, Aeffner began studying medicine but had to drop out after four years for health reasons.{{cite news |title="Abgeordnete im Porträt: Stephanie Aeffner (Grüne)" |url=https://www.aerztezeitung.de/Politik/Abgeordnete-im-Portraet-Stephanie-Aeffner-Gruene-423264.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=aerztezeitung.de |date=4 October 2021 |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202235207/https://www.aerztezeitung.de/Politik/Abgeordnete-im-Portraet-Stephanie-Aeffner-Gruene-423264.html |url-status=live }} Aeffner was dependent on a wheelchair from 1999 onwards.{{cite news |last1=Wetzel |first1=Maria |title="Rollstuhl – na und?" |url=https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.behindertenbeauftragte-fuer-baden-wuerttemberg-rollstuhl-na-und.0183882b-8dda-4145-a17a-a94353abdebf.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=stuttgarter-zeitung.de |date=28 September 2016 |language=de}}
Medical career
In 2000, Aeffner began studying social pedagogy at the Heidelberg University of Applied Sciences, which she completed in 2006 as a qualified social worker.{{cite news |title="Die neue Stimme im Hochschulrat" |url=https://www.srh-hochschule-heidelberg.de/news/blog/2019/die-neue-stimme-im-hochschulrat/ |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=srh-hochschule-heidelberg.de |date=7 May 2019 |language=de |archive-date=26 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926110928/https://www.srh-hochschule-heidelberg.de/news/blog/2019/die-neue-stimme-im-hochschulrat/ |url-status=live }} She was a temporary worker in outpatient nursing,{{cite news |last1=Lichnau |first1=Jennifer |title="Diese Menschen machen den Bundestag diverser" |url=https://www.zeit.de/zett/politik/2021-09/diversitaet-bundestag-bundestagswahl-frauen-transgender-junge-menschen-migrationshintergrund |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=zeit.de |date=27 September 2021 |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202160103/https://www.zeit.de/zett/politik/2021-09/diversitaet-bundestag-bundestagswahl-frauen-transgender-junge-menschen-migrationshintergrund |url-status=live }} becoming quality manager in the Clinic for Surgery at the University Hospital Mannheim in 2006.{{cite news |title="Lebenslauf Stephanie Aeffner" |url=https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/fileadmin/redaktion/m-sm/intern/downloads/Anhang_PM/Anlage_PM-097-L-Beh-beauftragte_Lebenslauf_Aeffner.pdf |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de |date= |language=de}}
In 2010, she began training as a quality officer in the social and healthcare sector at the Academy for Economic and Social Management of the {{ill|F+U Unternehmensgruppe|de}}. Until 2012, Aeffner worked in the integration project group in Eppelheim. Since 2012, she was involved in the LAG Behindertenpolitik in Baden-Württemberg.{{cite news |title=Eppelheimer Nachrichten |url=https://www.eppelheim.de/site/Eppelheim2019/get/documents_E-1888537372/eppelheim/Objekte/Politik%20und%20Verwaltung/Amt%2010/Kultur/EN/en14/2014en17.pdf |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=eppelheim.de |date=25 April 2014 |language=de |archive-date=28 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228235347/https://www.eppelheim.de/site/Eppelheim2019/get/documents_E-1888537372/eppelheim/Objekte/Politik%20und%20Verwaltung/Amt%2010/Kultur/EN/en14/2014en17.pdf |url-status=live }} From May 2012, she worked for the Zentrum selbstbestimmt Leben Stuttgart, an advice centre for people with disabilities. There she provided counselling for people with disabilities and their relatives. She was also responsible for the development and implementation of inclusion projects,{{cite news |title="viel
From 2016 to 2021, Aeffner was the representative of the state government of Baden-Württemberg for the interests of people with disabilities.{{cite news |title="Stephanie Aeffner als neue Landes-Behindertenbeauftragte bestellt" |url=https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/meldung/pid/stephanie-aeffner-als-neue-landes-behindertenbeauftragte-bestellt/ |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de |date=27 September 2016 |language=de |archive-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203083108/https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/meldung/pid/stephanie-aeffner-als-neue-landes-behindertenbeauftragte-bestellt/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title="Simone Fischer zur neuen Landes-Behindertenbeauftragten bestellt" |url=https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung/pid/simone-fischer-zur-neuen-landes-behindertenbeauftragten-bestellt/ |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de |date=28 September 2021 |language=de |archive-date=3 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203114348/https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilung/pid/simone-fischer-zur-neuen-landes-behindertenbeauftragten-bestellt/ |url-status=live }}
Political career
Aeffner was a long-standing member of Alliance 90/The Greens. She was a member of the local executive committee of the Eppelheim Greens and the executive committee of the Kurpfalz-Hardt district organisation. She was also a member of the state executive committee of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen Baden-Württemberg. When she was appointed state commissioner for disabled people, she resigned from all party-political offices for reasons of neutrality.{{cite news |title="Stephanie Aeffner, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen" |url=https://www.bundestag.de/abgeordnete/biografien/A/aeffner_stephanie-860154 |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=bundestag.de |date= |language=de}} She was involved in several state working groups of the Greens in Baden-Württemberg (Economy, Finance and Social Affairs, Disability Policy, Education){{cite news |title="Stephanie Aeffner" |url=https://www.gruene-bundestag.de/abgeordnete/infos-zur-person/stephanie-aeffner |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=gruene-bundestag.de |date= |language=de |archive-date=13 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713131349/https://www.gruene-bundestag.de/abgeordnete/infos-zur-person/stephanie-aeffner |url-status=live }} and the Federal Working Group (BAG) Disability Policy. She was also a member of the specialist working group on the state election programme and the 2021 Green-Black coalition agreement in Baden-Württemberg.
In the 2021 German federal election, Aeffner contested Pforzheim.{{Cite web|title=Ergebnisse Pforzheim – Der Bundeswahlleiter|url=https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/bundestagswahlen/2021/ergebnisse/bund-99/land-8/wahlkreis-279.html|access-date=22 November 2021|website=www.bundeswahlleiter.de}} She received 12.7% of the first votes{{cite news |title="279: Pforzheim" |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2021/ergebnisse/bund-99/land-8/wahlkreis-279.html |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=bundeswahlleiterin.de |date= |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202214450/https://www.bundeswahlleiterin.de/bundestagswahlen/2021/ergebnisse/bund-99/land-8/wahlkreis-279.html |url-status=live }} and came in fourth place, but was elected to the Bundestag on the state list.{{Cite web |title=Gewählte in Landeslisten der Parteien in Baden-Württemberg |url=https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/bundestagswahlen/2021/gewaehlte/bund-99/land-8.html |access-date=22 November 2021 |website=Bundeswahlleiter |archive-date=22 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122010311/https://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/bundestagswahlen/2021/gewaehlte/bund-99/land-8.html |url-status=live }} In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition, she was part of her party's delegation in the working group on social policy, co-chaired by Dagmar Schmidt, Sven Lehmann and Johannes Vogel.Britt-Marie Lakämper (21 October 2021), [https://www.waz.de/politik/koaltionsverhandlungen-spd-gruene-fdp-ampel-arbeitsgruppen-id233641303.html SPD, Grüne, FDP: Diese Politiker verhandeln die Ampel-Koalition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403123338/https://www.waz.de/politik/koaltionsverhandlungen-spd-gruene-fdp-ampel-arbeitsgruppen-id233641303.html |date=3 April 2022 }} Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.
In parliament, Aeffner served on the Committee on Labour and Social Affairs and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development[https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2022/kw11-pa-nachhaltigkeit-884160 Helmut Kleebank leitet den Beirat für nachhaltige Entwicklung] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204195812/https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2022/kw11-pa-nachhaltigkeit-884160 |date=4 December 2022 }} Bundestag, press release of 16 March 2022. and was the rapporteur for her group.{{cite news |last1=Schindler |first1=Franziska |title=""Behinderung wird in der Arbeitswelt noch immer als Makel gesehen"" |url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2022-02/stephanie-aeffner-gruene-behindertenpolitik-inklusion |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=zeit.de |date=8 February 2022 |language=de |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202205018/https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2022-02/stephanie-aeffner-gruene-behindertenpolitik-inklusion |url-status=live }}
On 3 June 2022, she was one of four members of the Green parliamentary group in the German Bundestag to vote against the Bundeswehr special fund.{{cite news |title="Bundeswehrsondervermögensgesetz (Antrag AfD)" |url=https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/plenum/abstimmung/abstimmung?id=783 |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=Bundestag |date=3 July 2022 |language=de |archive-date=30 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130191602/https://www.bundestag.de/parlament/plenum/abstimmung/abstimmung/?id=783 |url-status=live }}
Before her death, she was nominated for Pforzheim again and was in 15th place on the Baden-Württemberg state list of the Greens for the upcoming 2025 German federal election.{{Cite web |title=Landesliste für die Bundestagswahl 2025 |url=https://www.gruene-bw.de/wahlen/bundestagswahl-2025/landesliste-fuer-den-bundestag-2025/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216205454/https://www.gruene-bw.de/wahlen/bundestagswahl-2025/landesliste-fuer-den-bundestag-2025/ |archive-date=16 December 2024 |access-date=18 January 2025 |website=gruene-bw.de |language=de}} In January, her seat was taken up by Johannes Kretschmann.
Personal life
Aeffner was a Protestant and, by her own account, single. She lived in Eppelheim.{{cite news |last1=Metzbaur |first1=Birgit |title="Kreisparteitag der Grünen in Büchenbronn: Zwei Frauen wollen in den Bundestag" |url=https://bnn.de/pforzheim/kreisparteitag-der-gruenen-in-buechenbronn-zwei-frauen-wollen-in-den-bundestag |access-date=26 November 2024 |work=bnn.de |date=17 September 2020 |language=de}} Aeffner died on 15 January 2025, at the age of 48.{{cite news |title="Grünenpolitikerin Stephanie Aeffner plötzlich verstorben" |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/stephanie-aeffner-gruene-trauern-um-bundestagsabgeordnete-fuer-pforzheim-a-56be8106-1d5d-480d-8520-7dc4e831d6eb |access-date=15 January 2025 |work=spiegel.de |date=15 January 2025 |language=de |archive-date=15 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250115124042/https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/stephanie-aeffner-gruene-trauern-um-bundestagsabgeordnete-fuer-pforzheim-a-56be8106-1d5d-480d-8520-7dc4e831d6eb |url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Trauer um Stephanie Aeffner | website=Württembergischer Behinderten- und Rehabilitationssportverband e.V. | date=16 January 2025 | url=https://www.wbrs-online.net/verband/aktuelles/1673-trauer-um-stephanie-aeffner | language=de | access-date=17 January 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commonscat}}
- [https://www.bundestag.de/abgeordnete/biografien/A/aeffner_stephanie-860154 Biography at the German Bundestag]
- [https://www.abgeordnetenwatch.de/profile/stephanie-aeffner Member profile of Stephanie Aeffner at abgeordnetenwatch.de (in German)]
- [https://aeffnerstephanie.de/ Website of Stephanie Aeffener]
- [https://sozialministerium.baden-wuerttemberg.de/fileadmin/redaktion/m-sm/intern/downloads/Anhang_PM/Anlage_PM-097-L-Beh-beauftragte_Lebenslauf_Aeffner.pdf Curriculum of Stephanie Aeffner at the Ministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit und Integration Baden-Württemberg]
{{Members of the 20th Bundestag}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aeffner, Stephanie}}
Category:Politicians from Frankfurt
Category:Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens
Category:Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg
Category:Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025
Category:German wheelchair users
Category:21st-century German women politicians
Category:Female members of the Bundestag
Category:German social workers