Die Deutschen Konservativen (''The German Conservatives'') is a German conservative

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

organisation, which developed out of a conservative campaign to support

Franz Josef Strauß Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...

in the 1980 federal election. Formally established circa 1986, its President was former Berlin Senator for the Interior

Heinrich Lummer Heinrich Lummer (21 November 1932 – 15 June 2019) was a German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Life At the Free University of Berlin, Lummer studied German law and philosophy. He became a member of the Germa ...

, and the Chairman was the well-known journalist and later Latvian MP Joachim Siegerist. The organisation was fined in 1987 for "causing offence" to former Chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

, in their condemnation of what they saw as his appeasement policies towards communism. One the weekend of 12–13 August 1989, Die Deutschen Konservativen held a vast anti-communist rally at Mölln, near

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, with a procession of torchlit boats down the local canal, each carrying flags of the 'lost provinces' (

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, Danzig,

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

, etc.) with a large barge in the receiving lake holding visiting dignitaries from all over Europe, including a delegation from the UK's

Western Goals Institute Western Goals Institute (WGI) was a Far-right politics, far-right pressure group and think-tank in Britain, formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which was founded in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation.''Labour Research'', N ...

, who made inflammatory anti-communist speeches. These were broadcast by high-level loud-speakers across the nearby East-West border to several towns sited just across the border. Some 20,000 people gathered for the demonstration, which ended with a huge march at midnight, led by the flags of the 'lost provinces' to the ancient town centre where a further closing speech was made by

.''

Hamburger Abendblatt The ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' (English: ''Hamburg Evening Newspaper'') is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg. The paper focuses on news in Hamburg and area, and produces regional supplements with news from Norderstedt, Ahrensburg, Harburg, and ...

'', Monday 14 August 1989, extensive reports with photos. The association published regular newsletters and held an annual conference.

Notes

External links

Konservative website
Political organisations based in Germany Anti-communism Eurosceptic parties in Germany 1986 establishments in West Germany Organizations established in 1986 German irredentism {{Germany-party-stub