He lectured at the Universities of Innsbruck (Austria), Luzern (Switzerland) and Munich (Germany).
Steinacher’s research focuses on 20th Century Central European History with emphasis on Italian Fascism, National Socialism, Holocaust and intelligence studies.
His post-doctoral research (Habilitation) examined the postwar fate of Nazis, Holocaust perpetrators and the institutions, particularly, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the US Government, and the Catholic Church, that aided in their escape from Europe.
The result of this research came out as a book, Nazis on the Run: How Hitler's Henchmen Fled Justice.
This academic book was published in several languages with the English edition put out by Oxford University Press in 2011.