Udo Steiner (born September 16, 1939 in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

) was a justice of the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme court, supreme constitutional court for the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law ...

from 1995 to 2007. He grew up in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

, and went on to study law in

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. In 1965, he earned a doctorate with the thesis ''Verfassunggebung und verfassunggebende Gewalt des Volkes''. Subsequently, he earned his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1972, with the thesis ''Öffentliche Verwaltung durch Private''. In 1973, Steiner was appointed as Professor of Public Law at the University of Erlangen, and subsequently served as Professor at the universities of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

. He was Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Bielefeld from 1976 to 1977, and in Regensburg from 1988 to 1990. Between 1976 and 1979, he also served as a Judge at the Oberverwaltungsgericht. He was appointed a Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1995, and still lectures at the University of Regensburg. He was retired as a Judge upon turning 68 in 2007, and was succeeded by Ferdinand Kirchhof. In 2008, he was appointed as the

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

of Deutsche Bahn for victims of railway accidents. Steiner married in 1967 and has four children.

Honours

* 2007: Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband * 2008: Bayerischer Verdienstorden

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Udo Jurists from Bavaria Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court Academic staff of the University of Regensburg Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1939 births Living people People from Bayreuth