Background
Daughter of the diplomat Doctor Wilhelm Mayer, Maria Probst studied German and history for her doctorate, which she earned in 1930.
Daughter of the diplomat Doctor Wilhelm Mayer, Maria Probst studied German and history for her doctorate, which she earned in 1930.
After the war, she worked as a teacher in Hammelburg. From 1 October 1952 until 26 June 1953, she led the Parlamentarischen Untersuchungsausschuss zur Prüfung der unzulänglichen Einstellungen von Schwerbeschädigten bei den Bundesdienststellen (roughly, "Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry to Examine Demoralisation in Heavily Damaged Areas in the Federal Departments"). From 1957 to 1965, she was Deputy Chairman of the Bundestagsausschuss für Kriegsopferund Heimkehrerfragen (roughly, "Committee for Questions of War Victims and Returnees").
From 9 December 1965 until her death, she was the first woman to occupy the Vice-President"s office in the Bundestag.
On 10 May 1967, the Bundestag officially mourned her. In 1961, she was one of a number of politicians behind an unsuccessful attempt to introduce an Acting on academic freedom.
She joined the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (Christlich Soziale Union (Christian Social Union)) as a member of the Bavarian Landtag (state parliament of Bavaria) in 1946.
She was a member of the Bundestag from its inception in 1949, representing the Karlstadt constituency. From 27 February 1958 until 21 December 1965, she was also a member of the European Parliament.