During the war, which broke out in September 1939, much of Würzburg, which was still in large part a timber built city, was destroyed by Anglo-American bombing and a particularly destructive resulting fire storm.
Baden-Württemberg, with Stuttgart at its heart, was particularly important for IG Metall due to the presence in the region of several famously profitable and prestigious manufacturing and engineering companies, including Daimler Benz.
[7] He famously led a successful campaign for formal recognition by managements of factory workers' rights to what came to be known - with a characteristic directness which he himself has always relished - as "Steinkühler-Pinkelpause" ("Steinkühler piss breaks") of up to five minutes per hour in respect of "personal necessities".
it was only from the capitalist side that it made any sense if some people pushed themselves to the point of total exhaustion out of simple fear of unemployment, while others were left humbly just hoping to get a job".
[11] The necessary agreement was nevertheless reached with the employers' negotiating body in 1990 for a step-by-step transition to a 35-hour working week, and by the end of 1995 the policy was, broadly speaking, in place, although it has remained controversial in some quarters.
[12] His leading role within IG Metall meant that Steinkühler was also a member of the supervisory board of the company known, at that time, as Daimler-Benz AG.
During the first part of 1993 Michael Backhaus, a contributing editor based at the Bonn office of the news magazine Stern, with a reputation as a high-profile investigative journalist, received a telephone call.
The caller provided information concerning significant stock purchases in the company "Mercedes Aktien Holding" allegedly made on behalf of Franz Steinkühler during March 1993 by a bank.
At the time of the alleged stock purchases, merger plans would have been secret, although it seemed reasonable to assume that they would already have been discussed at meetings of the Daimler-Benz AG supervisory board.
The evidence provided appeared overwhelmingly circumstantial, but Backhaus was persuaded by what he heard that he might be looking at a story of insider dealing by a well-known public figure.
In the eyes of many enemies in the political, industrial and media establishments, Franz Steinkühler was far too fond of demonizing money-love and speculation of all kinds, which would give the story significant added piquancy.
The informant now alleged that on 18 March 1993 Steinkühler had purchased almost a quarter of a million Marks worth of shares in "Mercedes Aktien Holding" through his bank.
Then, just one day before a crucial meeting of the Daimler-Benz AG supervisory board, an even larger tranche of shares was reported to have been purchased, this time in the name of Steinkühler's ten year old son.
)[13] On 15 May 1993 Franz Steinkühler returned home from a meeting in Geneva and received a telephone call from the journalist Michael Backhaus.
[13] On 25 May 1993, following suspicions that he had used knowledge gained through his position as a member of the supervisory board of Daimler-Benz A.G. to engage in insider trading, Franz Steinkühler's resignation as leader of IG Metall was accepted.
The core finding that found its way into the news media was that, through a combination of carelessness and hubris, union bosses had agreed to pay far more for the property than it was worth.
Reports surfaced that IG Metall had at one stage considered launching a legal action for recovery of damages against Steinkühler; but that never happened.
That only increased the scope and temptation for intensified adverse media speculation on behalf of those who wished Steinkühler ill. Press reports from the political left and centre were far less salacious, but they hardly amounted to a ringing endorsement.
Earlier speculation that his resignation from IG Metall might open the way for Franz Steinkühler to accept a top job with another trades union, or even a role as an EU Commissioner in Brussels, melted rapidly away.