Der Flügel () is a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

faction within Germany's Alternative for Germany (''Alternative für Deutschland'', AfD), a

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...

opposition party.Christopher F. Schuetze
Far-Right Faction of German Populist Party Vows to Dissolve
''New York Times'' (25 March 2020). The group was led by

Björn Höcke Björn Höcke (born 1 April 1972) is a German politician and a member of Alternative for Germany (AfD). Along with Andreas Kalbitz, Höcke is the leader of the AfD's far-right "Der Flügel" faction, which the German government's Federal Offic ...

and

Andreas Kalbitz Andreas Kalbitz (born 17 November 1972) is a German politician and was from 2013 to 2020 member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and since 2017 chairman of the faction of his former party in the Landtag of Brandenburg, a state parliament ...

(banned from AfD in 2020). Approximately 20 percent of AfD members are organized also in the "Flügel". Following the request by the AfD executive board to dissolve ''Der Flügel'' by the end of April 2020, the group's online presence went offline. The

Office for the Protection of the Constitution The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungss ...

has no reliable knowledge of an actual dissolution. Within the party, the ''Flügel'' now calls itself the "social-patriotic faction".

History

The Flügel's founding document, the Erfurt Declaration of 2015, describes AfD as a "resistance movement against the further erosion of the identity of Germany." Henry Bernhard of DLF wrote in 2019 that the group's

radicalization Radicalization (or radicalisation) is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. The ideas of society at large shape the outcomes of radicalizat ...

was apparent at the group's annual meetings (''Kyffhäusertreffen''), with the group increasingly accepting "racism,

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, xenophobia, historical revisionism," and the downplaying of

Nazi crime Nazi crime or Hitlerite crime ( pl, Zbrodnia nazistowska or ''zbrodnia hitlerowska'') is a legal concept used in the Polish legal system, referring to an action which was carried out, inspired, or tolerated by public functionaries of Nazi Germany ...

s. Höcke and Kalbitz are controversial for their links to

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

groups.Katrin Bennhold
Germany Places Part of Far-Right Party Under Surveillance
''New York Times'' (12 March 2020). The group attained a dominant position in the AfD associations of several states in eastern Germany, particularly

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

, and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. In 2020, the group was estimated to have some 7,000 members, constituting one-fifth of the AfD's total membership. The group has been the subject of internal party battles within the AfD, where relative moderates within the party have opposed the influence of extremist elements. Leading AfD politicians, like AfD-chairman

Jörg Meuthen Jörg Hubert Meuthen (; born 29 June 1961) is a German economist serving as a member of the European Parliament for the Centre Party. He was the leading candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) for the 2019 European Parliament election. H ...

, criticized Höcke's "personality cult" but not necessarily his far-right political positions. The

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (german: Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz or BfV, often ''Bundesverfassungsschutz'') is Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungss ...

(BfV) classified the Flügel in January 2019 as a suspected case of

right-wing extremism Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

, since its "propagated policy concept was aimed at exclusion, contempt and far-reaching rights of foreigners, migrants, especially Muslims, and politically dissenting people." In March 2020, the BfV classified the Flügel as "a right-wing extremist endeavor against the free democratic basic order" that was incompatible with

Germany's Basic Law The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...

, and placed the group under intelligence surveillance. Following the BfV's announcement, the AfD's national leaders demanded the dissolution of the Flügel, and Höcke and Kalbitz asked members to "cease their activities." However, the Flügel members were not asked to leave the AfD, and in their announcement of the group's disbandment, Höcke and Kalbitz wrote that, "In principle, it is not possible to dissolve what does not formally exist." The pair also retained their leadership positions in two of the AfD's state associations. In January 2022, Meuthen declared that he would resign from the party chairmanship with immediate effect and resign from the AfD. Notable AfD-politician

resigned in January 2022 from the party chairmanship and from the AfD. He justified this with the fact that he had lost the power struggle with the formally dissolved right-wing extremist "Der Flügel" over the political direction of AfD. Meuthen criticized that the party had developed far to the right and was in large parts no longer concurrent with the

Liberal democratic basic order The liberal democratic basic order (german: freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung (FDGO)) is a fundamental term in German constitutional law. It determines the unalienable, invariable core structure of the German commonwealth. As such, it is ...

in Germany.

Important persons and influence

, spokesman of AfD Regional Association

, banned from AfD in 2020, spokesman of Flügel *

, spokesman of AfD state Association

, spokesman of Flügel *

Götz Kubitschek Götz Kubitschek (; born 17 August 1970) is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. He espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the ''Neue Rechte'' (New Right) in Germany. Hailin ...

, a theorist of

Neue Rechte Neue Rechte (''New Right'') is the designation for a right-wing political movement in Germany. It was founded as an opposition to the New Left generation of the 1960s. Its intellectually oriented proponents distance themselves from Old Right Naz ...

Frank Pasemann Frank Pasemann (born 21 April 1961) is a German politician (formerly AfD). He got excluded from the party in 2020. Pasemann has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Saxony-Anhalt since 2017. Biography Pasemann is part of the ...

, former member of Bundestag, excluded 2020 from AfD, still active within the party * Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, activist of

with connections to IB, member of

Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt The Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt is the parliament of the Germany, German States of Germany, federal state Saxony-Anhalt. It convenes in Magdeburg and currently consists of 97 members of six parties. The current majority is a coalition of the Social ...

for AfD

References

{{Authority control 2015 establishments in Germany German nationalism Far-right politics in Germany Anti-Islam sentiment in Germany Anti-immigration politics in Germany Antisemitism in Germany Historical negationism Islamophobia in Europe Political party factions in Germany Radicalization Alternative for Germany