Heike Heubach (German pronunciation:[ˈhaɪkəˈhɔʏbax]; born 14 December 1979)[1] is a German politician from theSocial Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). She is the first deafmember of the German Bundestag.
Heubach was born inRottweil in 1979.[1][2] She suffered amiddle ear infection as an infant, which is believed to have caused her deafness.[3]
After primary school andHauptschule, she completed herMittlere Reife at acommercial school in 1999, studied for one year in aGymnasium, and finally obtained a specialisedFachabitur leaving certificate at aFachoberschule in 2003.[1] From 2008 to 2011 she trained as anindustrial clerk atE.ON Facility Management.[3]
Heubach worked as an industrial manager,[4] at E.ON until 2013,[3] then atBayernwerk [de].[1][5]
Heubach joined the SPD in November 2019,[2] and ran for the Stadtberg city council in the2020 local elections.[3] In February 2021, she was nominated as a direct candidate forSPD Bavaria in theAugsburg-Land constituency for the2021 federal election.[6] with approximately 14% of first votes, she was not elected on the party list.[4][3]
On 20 March 2024, she replacedUli Grötsch in the Bundestag when he resigned,[7] becoming its first deaf member.[4][8][9] She was welcomed to theplenary hall of theparliament building on 21 March.[10]Carolin Wagner, the chairwoman of the Bavarian regional group in the SPD parliamentary group, called the event "a milestone for the inclusion and representation of the deaf community".[9]
Unlike most members of the Bundestag, Heubach will have an assigned seat in the chamber. As anaccessibility measure,sign language interpreters will be positioned near her, and when she speaks, an interpreter with a microphone will be positioned next to the parliamentarystenographers.[4] She has said that while inclusion will be a focus of hers in the Bundestag, specifically the shortage of sign-language interpreters, her primary issue will be theclimate crisis.[3]
Heubach lives inStadtbergen in theAugsburg district.[3] She is married and has two children.[1][3][11] Hersign name is the sign for "smile".[3]
Media related toHeike Heubach at Wikimedia Commons
