Orbituary: Maecenata Foundation mourns the sudden and unexpected death of the director of its MENA Study Centre

Maecenata Foundation mourns the sudden and unexpected death of the director of its MENA Study Centre

Prof. Dr. Udo Steinbach

born on 30 May 1943 in Pethau, Zittau district

died on 2 August 2025 in Berlin.

Prof. Steinbach studied Oriental Studies and Classical Philology in Freiburg and Basel and received his doctorate in 1970. After working for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and Deutsche Welle, he was director of the German Oriental Institute from 1976 to 2006 and taught as an honorary professor at the University of Hamburg from 1991 onwards. After his retirement, he taught at the University of Marburg and worked at the Humboldt-Viadrina School and Humboldt-Viadrina Governance Platform before taking over as director of the newly created MENA Study Centre of the Maecenata Foundation in February 2019 after several joint projects.

Until his death, Prof. Steinbach maintained close ties with the countries of West Asia, including through lecture tours to Baghdad, Baku, Cairo, Riyadh, Tashkent and Tehran, and through intensive cooperation with the European Wasatia Graduate School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the European University of Flensburg. In Berlin, he contributed his expertise on the Middle East and North Africa to regular events on intellectual potential and the work of civil society, often in collaboration with the Catholic Academy in Berlin or the German-Arab Friendship Society. Overcoming antagonisms in the region in a forward-looking manner was a particular concern of his.

With the death of Udo Steinbach, we have lost a committed colleague who shaped and enriched the work of the foundation over many years and gave it a special focus. We will honour his memory. Our condolences go out to his family.

The Executive Board: Ansgar Gessner and Dr. Rupert Graf Strachwitz