Gesinnungsgemeinschaft der Neuen Front (GdNF) is a German organisation that was the main group for

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 ...

activity during the 1990s. It translates into English as the Community of Like-Minded People of the New Front or the Covenant of the New Front.Hermann Kurthen, Werner Bergmann, Rainer Erb, ''Antisemitism and Xenophobia in Germany after Unification'', Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 166 The GdNF was formed in 1985 by Michael Kühnen, Thomas Brehl and

Christian Worch Christian Worch (born 14 March 1956) is a prominent German neo-Nazi activist and chairman of the far-right political party Die Rechte. In 1974, Worch started a militant group called the ''Hansabande'' in Hamburg, along with Michael Kühnen. Th ...

after the banning of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists.Irving v. Lipstadt Defence Documents
/ref> Initially a loose group associated with the magazine ''Die Neue Front'', the GdNF was soon formalised into an organisation, taking in most of the membership of the ANS/NA. The group placed itself within the more radical

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

tradition of Nazism rather than simple devotion to Adolf Hitler. It also placed importance on opposing the influence of the United States, the destruction of the environment and the weakening of German racial purity. The group was also active in Austria, which it referred to as " Ostmark", and called for the formation of an Austrian SA in a December 1990 edition of its paper ''Neuen Front''. When Kühnen came out as a homosexual in 1986 the GdNF remained loyal to him in the resulting split, although the group lost control of the Free German Workers' Party.Cyprian Blamires, ''World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1'', p. 369 However the group continued to improve its organisational basis despite this set-back, staging marches, paramilitary training and setting up cells in the German Democratic Republic. It also sought to build up a portfolio of international contacts with which it co-operated on military drilling, propaganda dissemination and arms dispersal. After the death of Kühnen in 1991, the leadership of the GdNF, which had about 400 fully active members, passed to Worch,

Winfried Arnulf Priem Winfried is a masculine German given name. Notable people with the name include: *Winfried Berkemeier (born 1953), former German footballer *Winfried Bischoff (born 1941), German-British businessperson *Winfried Bönig (born 1959), German organist ...

and Austrian neo-Nazi leader

Gottfried Küssel Gottfried Küssel (born 10 September 1958) is an Austrian far-right political activist who also gained some notoriety in Germany. He has been a leading figure in neo-Nazism and Holocaust denial since the 1970s. Early years Born in Vienna, Küssel ...

. Martin A. Lee, '' The Beast Reawakens'', 1997, p. 253 In Austria the GdNF worked in tandem with Küssel's ''Volkstreue Außerparlamentarische Opposition'' (VAPO), a like-minded group.Bernd Baumgartl,

Adrian Favell Adrian Favell is chair in Sociology and Social Theory at the University of Leeds and chercheur associé of the Centre for European Studies at Sciences Po, Paris. He is also a Professorial Academic Associate of the Sainsbury Institute for the Stu ...

, ''New Xenophobia in Europe'', Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1995, p. 23 However without Kühnen the group went into terminal decline and became lost in a sea of similar groups that were formed in the 1990s due to ever closer government scrutiny of neo-Nazi activities. The group continued to publish ''Neuen Front'' although increasingly this became an international magazine of neo-Nazism with close links to the NSDAP/AO with the GdNF doing little beyond publishing this work. With Worch jailed in 1996 and other important figures such as Thomas Brehl starting up their own groups the GdNF gradually passed out of existence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gesinnungsgemeinschaft Der Neuen Front 1984 establishments in Germany Neo-Nazi organizations Political organisations based in Germany Neo-Nazism in Austria Neo-Nazism in Germany German nationalist organizations