Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg (; born 20 February 1965) is a German politician for

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

. Since 2021 she has been '' Bürgermeisterin'' (deputy mayor) of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

; following the

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...

of previous '' Oberbürgermeister'' (lord mayor) Peter Feldmann, she has acted as

Mayor of Frankfurt The Mayor of Frankfurt (German: (male) or (female), sometimes translated as "Lord Mayor") is the highest-ranking member of city government in Frankfurt, Germany. The mayor was traditionally elected by the city council. This system was replaced i ...

on a caretaker basis from 12 November 2022 until the mayoral election in March 2023.

Early life

Eskandari-Grünberg was born in 1965 in Tehran. As a high-school student she protested for the overthrow of the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

; after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, she campaigned for democracy against the

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

regime. While still at school, she was arrested and imprisoned in

Evin Prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

, and while there gave birth to a daughter, Maryam, with a college student. She was released after a year and a half, and fled with her baby daughter to Germany, arriving in Frankfurt on Christmas Eve 1985. Eskandari-Grünberg earned a doctorate and became a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

with the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

, and married fellow psychologist Kurt Grünberg, with whom she has a second child. Her daughter became an actress, known for roles in the film ''

Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...

'' and the TV series '' 4 Blocks'' and ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

'' among others. Eskandari-Grünberg was featured in Zaree's 2019 documentary ', in which Zaree attempts to learn more about the circumstances of her mother's imprisonment and her own birth, and which won the 2020 German Film Award for Best Documentary Film.

Political career

In 2001, Eskandari-Grünberg joined Frankfurt City Council as a councillor for The Greens, and from 2008 to 2016, she sat on the city cabinet as the Head of Department for Integration. In the 2018 mayoral election, she ran as the Green candidate and finished third with 9.3% of the vote. After the 2021 Frankfurt local elections, in which the Greens finished first, Eskandari-Grünberg was chosen as the ''Bürgermeisterin'' (

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

) as well as the Head of Department for Diversity, Anti-discrimination and Social Cohesion. Following the successful

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

against Lord Mayor of Frankfurt Peter Feldmann, Eskandari-Grünberg took over the role of lord mayor on 12 November 2022, and will be the caretaker until the next election, expected to be held in March 2023. Eskandari-Grünberg is not religious and is skeptical of Islamic teaching and the role of

women in Islam The experiences of Muslim women ( ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies due to culture and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the w ...

, campaigning unsuccessfully for a headscarf ban in public buildings, but also defends

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

and supports a "critical dialogue" with Muslims. After defending immigration and the construction of a mosque in Frankfurt, Eskandari-Grünberg became the target of a

Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

intimidation campaign.

Mahsa Amini protests

Eskandari-Grünberg has been a vocal critic of the human rights situation in Iran and called for sanctions against the country. During the

Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...

in Iran in 2022, Eskandari-Grünberg organised and led demonstrations in support of Iranian feminists in Frankfurt.

Footnotes

References

External links

Dr. Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg
Hessen Greens {{DEFAULTSORT:Eskandari-Grünberg, Nargess 1965 births Mayors of Frankfurt Alliance 90/The Greens politicians Politicians from Tehran Living people German politicians of Iranian descent Iranian emigrants to Germany Iranian atheists German atheists Iranian democracy activists German psychotherapists Iranian prisoners and detainees Inmates of Evin Prison Mahsa Amini protests