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Der Flügel

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The Wing
Der Flügel
LeaderBjörn Höcke
Founded14 March 2015
Dissolved30 April 2020
Membership7,000+
IdeologyGerman nationalism
Political positionFar-right
National affiliationAlternative for Germany
Colors  Light blue
Bundestag (Old AfD seats)
22 / 91
[a]

Der Flügel ("the wing") was a far-right nationalist faction of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. It was founded by Björn Höcke in the state of Thuringia on 14 March 2015.[1][2] It was reportedly the most radical faction of AfD, and Germany's domestic intelligence agency placed it under "formal surveillance" due to its alleged right-wing extremism in 2020.[2] It ceased to exist the same year, after the executive committee of the AfD voted to dissolve it on 30 April 2020.[3][1] After its dissolution, its founder and leader Höcke made a video on Facebook confirming that it no longer exists.[4]

Der Flügel had approximately 7,000 members in Germany. It was already identified as "suspicious" by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in January 2019. It was being monitored along with the AfD's youth organization, Young Alternative for Germany.[3][5] According to German authorities, individual members of Der Flügel had links to organizations that were previously classified as extremist.[6] Der Flügel's membership was one third of the AfD and it was considered the most "relevant" wing of the party.[7][8]

It was led by the Thuringian and Brandenburg state AfD leaders, Björn Höcke and Andreas Kalbitz. Reportedly, racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, historical revisionism, and the relativization of Nazism were accepted political positions of Der Flügel.[9] The faction was described by other AfD members as "party within the party"; before its dissolution, it had its own leadership cadres in the state associations, and it organized its own events with its own appearance and logo.[10]

History

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On March 14, 2015, Der Flügel's founder, Björn Höcke and André Poggenburg, chairman of AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch, published "Efurt Declaration", a founding document of the faction.[11][1] The document described AfD as a "resistance movement against the further erosion of the identity of Germany".[12] Der Flügel had bad relationship with other wings of AfD and reportedly, caused a power struggle within the party in 2020.[11] Some members of AfD were opposed Der Flügel's existence, calling it "extremist element".[11] Some notable AfD politicians like chairman Jörg Meuthen, criticized Björn Höcke's "personality cult" within the faction but not its far-right political position.[13] According to estimates by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Der Flügel had approximately 7,000 members despise it having no formal membership.[14] Reportedly, 22 parliament members of AfD out of 91 were affiliated with Der Flügel since 2015.[6]

In January 2019, The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classified Der Flügel as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, they accused Der Flügel of "propagating policy concepts aimed at exclusion, contempt and deprivation of rights of foreigners, migrants, especially Muslims, and politically dissenting people".[12][3] In March 2020 BfV classified Der Flügel as a right wing extremist organization and placed it under a secret surveillance along with AfD's youth organization, Young Alternative for Germany.[2][3] The president of BfV, Thomas Haldenwang, explained BfV's decision to label Die Flügel as extremist organization, in a statement, he said: "It is a fact that the corresponding violations of defining characteristics of the free democratic basic order – human dignity, democracy, and the rule of law – can be established".[15]

Following BfV's announcement, leaders of AfD demanded the dissolution of Der Flügel. Bjorn Hocke and Andreas Kalbitz asked members of the faction to "cease their activities".[16][17] On Friday 2020, executive committee of AfD voted to officially dissolve Die Flügel. The resolution to dissolve it was put forward by prominent AfD party members Jörg Meuthen and Tino Chrupalla, as well as party leaders, Alice Weidel, Beatrix von Storch and Carsten Hütter. Eleven AfD party members voted for Die Flügel's dissolution.[3][17]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 22 members of AfD in Bundestag were affiliated with Der Flügel until it was dissolved in 2020.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Völkisch-nationalist group of people within the Alternative for Germany (AfD), formerly "Flügel"". Ministerium der Innern des Landles Nordhein-Westwaffen. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Oltermann, Philiph (12 March 2020). "German spy agency puts part of far-right AfD under surveillance". The Guardian.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Germany's far-right AfD to dissolve extreme faction". Deutsche Welle. 3 April 2020.
  4. ^ "The group: The wing of the AfD party no longer exists". MDR. 28 April 2020.
  5. ^ Falk, Thomas (1 February 2022). "The failed attempt to 'deradicalise' Germany's AfD". The Spectator.
  6. ^ a b Lauer, Stefan (2 August 2019). "Reactionaries in the background – AfD and wing". Amadeu Antonio Foundation.
  7. ^ Sternberg, Jan (12 March 2020). "Observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Who belongs to the "wing" of the AfD?". Redactionz Netzwerk.
  8. ^ Koch, Moritz (12 March 2020). "Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution monitors AfD's "wing" – "Höcke is a right-wing extremist"". Handlesblatt.
  9. ^ "The difference between the "wing" and the rest of the party". Deutschlandfunk. 29 October 2019.
  10. ^ Reidel, Katja (17 March 2020). "Where did the "Wing" get its donations from?". Tagesschau.
  11. ^ a b c "AfD – Die Geschichte der Rechtsaußenpartei Deutschlands". Frankfurter Rundshau (in German). 19 December 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  12. ^ a b Bernhard, Von Henry (29 October 2019). "AfD - Der Unterschied zwischen "Flügel" und restlicher Partei". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Nein zum "Personenkult": 100 AfD-Funktionäre proben Aufstand gegen Rechtsaußen Höcke". Die Zeit (in German). 10 July 2019. ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  14. ^ "A warning to all enemies of democracy". Suddeutsche Zeitung. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  15. ^ Bernhard, Henry (4 February 2020). "Doubts about the dissolution of the right-wing extremist "wing"". Deutchlandfunk. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  16. ^ Schuetze, Christopher F. (25 March 2020). "Far-Right Faction of German Populist Party Vows to Dissolve". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  17. ^ a b Peters, Klaus (1 April 2020). ""Wing" goes offline: Right-wing extremist AfD group dissolves itself". Tagesspiegel.
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