Eva Herman is a German author and former television presenter. She worked as a news presenter on the nationwide Tagesschaunews programme from 1989 to 2006 and also presented various other television programmes for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk until 2007. In 2003, an opinion poll by TNS Emnid declared Herman to be "Germany's favourite presenter". Starting in 2006, Herman authored multiple books that were critical of feminism and advocated for traditional female gender roles. Her books were met with widespread criticism and media scrutiny. In 2007, Herman was dismissed from her position as a news anchor at German national broadcaster ARD, after positively reviewing the family policies and gender roles of Nazi Germany.
Controversies
In 2006 and 2007 Herman published two controversially received books regarding to her beliefs on gender roles and family policy. Herman strongly believes in traditional gender roles. Her article "Die Emanzipation - ein Irrtum?" describes her opinions on why birth rates continuously drop in Germany: Herman believes the Feminist movement forces women out of their natural place in the traditional family. Her understanding of female emancipation is that it calls for women to become like men. She refers to working as a 'masculine' attribute, and warns that although women can pursue talents outside the home in moderation, working outside of the home for too long puts women at risk of becoming 'masculine beings', and thus less interested in starting families. In 2007, during an event intended to promote her second book Das Prinzip Arche Noah. Warum wir die Familie retten müssen., Herman criticized the German student movement of 1968. She alleged that the movement specifically devalued traditionally female gender roles and spoke favorably about the image of motherhood, family values and community solidarity in Nazi Germany. On September 8th 2007, Herman was dismissed from her position at public TV broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk with immediate effect, after defending her statements to its program director Volker Herres. In August 2015, Herman published a conspiracy theory that claimed the European migrant crisis was orchestrated by "powerful people in the finance sector" to eradicate the white, christian population of Europe and claimed that the September 11 attacks were a hoax. On April 20 2016, Herman was found guilty of evading €40,000 of income taxes in 2010. She was ordered to pay a reduced fine of €5,400, as she had already payed back her liabilities.
