Beatrix von Storch | |
|---|---|
 Von Storch in 2019 | |
| Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader of the Alternative for Germany | |
| Assumed office 5 July 2015 | |
| Leader | Alice Weidel andTino Chrupalla |
| Member of theBundestag | |
| Assumed office 24 September 2017 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1 July 2014 – 27 October 2017 | |
| Constituency | Germany |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika Herzogin von Oldenburg (1971-05-27)27 May 1971 (age 54) Lübeck, West Germany |
| Political party | Alternative for Germany (2013–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Free Democratic Party (2011–2013) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (maternal grandfather) Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg (paternal grandfather) |
Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika von Storch (née Herzogin von Oldenburg;[a] 27 May 1971) is a German politician and lawyer, who has been theDeputy Parliamentary Leader of the Alternative for Germany since July 2015 and a Member of theBundestag since September 2017. She previously was aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany.[1] From April 2016 to 2017 she was also a member of theright-wing populistAnti-EU groupEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy. She is part of theright-wing conservative wing of the parliamentary group of the AfD. She belongs ancestrally to the royalHouse of Oldenburg which reigned over theGrand Duchy of Oldenburg until 1918.
In accordance with the traditions of theHouse of Oldenburg, her dynasticstyle from birth wasHer Highness Duchess Beatrix Amelie Ehrengard Eilika ofOldenburg. She is the elder daughter of Duke Huno of Oldenburg (b. 1940) and his wife, Countess Felicitas-Anita "Fenita"Schwerin von Krosigk (b. 1941).[2] Her father is a younger son ofNikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg (1897–1970), erstwhile head of the formerruling family of Oldenburg that lost its throne in 1918.[2] She belongs to the samemale-line as the royal houses ofDenmark andNorway, the deposed royalhouse of Greece and imperialRussia, andCharles III, king of the United Kingdom and 14 otherCommonwealth realms,[2] to which last crown she is also distantly in line in accordance with theAct of Settlement 1701.
Her maternal grandfather wasLutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk,[2] who served as finance minister from 1932 in theWeimar Republic until the defeat ofNazi Germany in 1945. After the death ofAdolf Hitler andJoseph Goebbels he additionally served as theLeading Minister and foreign minister of the short-livedFlensburg Government ofKarl Dönitz – and so as the de facto last head of government ofNazi Germany announced on 7 May 1945, via radioReichssender Flensburg theunconditional surrender of the GermanWehrmacht, thus ending the war in Europe.[3]
Her cousin, Eilika of Oldenburg, is married toGeorg von Habsburg, a son ofOtto, the last Crown Prince ofAustria-Hungary.
On 22 October 2010 she married German-Chilean businessmanSven von Storch (born 1970), member of a German noble family fromMecklenburg. He is the son of businessman Berndt Detlev vonStorch(1930–2004) and Antje LieteKrüger-Franke (b. 1938).[4][5]
Von Storch was a banker before she studied law inHeidelberg andLausanne. She worked as a lawyer in Berlin when she began her political career. She has also been a member of theFriedrich A. von Hayek Society [de].[6]
Together with her husband, she founded several conservative associations. On several occasions, the tax authorities have investigated the couple, accused in particular of having misappropriated donations intended for their associations.[7]
Von Storch was a co-founder of theGöttinger Kreis – Students for the Rule of Law Association – an organization which sought to campaign for reparation for the expulsions and nationalization of land in the Soviet occupied zones of Germany and the formerEast Germany. The organization calls for appropriated land to be returned to their original owners. The association organized various events withMikhail Gorbachev, among others.[8][9]
Von Storch was a member of theFree Democratic Party and in 2013, became a founding member ofElection Alternative 13 set up byBernd Lucke as the precursor toAlternative for Germany.[10]
In 2014, Beatrix von Storch was elected aMember of European Parliament representingAlternative for Germany. Initially a member of theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists group, she left the group in April 2016, forestalling her imminent expulsion, and immediately joined theEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group.[11] In the2017 German federal election, she was elected to theBundestag and presently serves as deputy chairwoman of the AfD's parliamentary faction. Following her election to the Bundenstag, she resigned her seat in the European parliament and was replaced byJörg Meuthen.
Von Storch has been described as asocial conservative. She has expressed opposition tosame-sex marriage andabortion.[12] She has accused school gay youth networks of using "forced sexualization" on their students. Von Storch also supported the United Kingdom's vote forBrexit and is a friend of British eurosceptic politicianNigel Farage.[13][14] In parliament, she regularly shows her support forIsrael which she regards as an ally in the fight againstIslamism and in 2017 created the pro-Israel "Friends of Judea-Samaria" group in theEuropean Parliament.[15] Asked in 2016 about the ideological proximity between the AfD and theFront national, she believes that on economic issues,Marine Le Pen is too far to the left, stating that she does not agree with Le Pen's ideas onprotectionism andstate interventionism.[16] She has been characterized as a member and supporter of the more moderateAlternative Mitte faction of the AfD.[17][18][19]
In November 2015, a leading Berlin theatre, theSchaubühne, was brought into legal conflict with Beatrixvon Storch over a play, Falk Richter'sFEAR, that parodied AfD leaders aszombies and mass murderers.[20] Beatrix von Storch is depicted facing retribution for her grandfather's role as a minister in Hitler's government.[21] AfD Spokesperson Christian Lüth responded by interrupting a performance and filming it. Beatrix von Storch and the conservative activistHedwig von Beverfoerde then requested and obtained a preliminary injunction against the theatre, prohibiting it from using images of them in the production. They charged that the use of the images violated their human dignity protected under the Constitution.[22] On 15 December 2015, the court ruled against the complainants in favour of the theatre's freedom of expression and lifted the injunctions against using the images. The judges commented that 'any audience member can recognize that this is just a play'.[23]
In late February 2016, von Storch was "pied" by members of the German left-wing groupPeng Collective at a party meeting inKassel. The activists, dressed as clowns, protested against her assertion that Germanborder control personnel had the right to shoot at incoming illegal immigrants. A YouTube video of the assault gained wide attention in social media.[24][25]
Von Storch's Twitter account was blocked for twelve hours after she posted a criticism of the Cologne Police Department for publishing a New Years greeting in Arabic as well as in German, French and English. She had written: "What the hell is wrong with this country? Why is the official page of the police inNRW tweeting in Arabic? Are they seeking to appease the barbaric, Muslim, rapist hordes of men?" Cologne was the location of multiple sexual assaults and robbery on New Year's Eve, December 2015 (seeNew Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany). Other prominent members of the AfD quickly sprang to von Storch's defense, includingAlice Weidel.[26]
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