The German Völkisch Freedom Party (german: Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei, or DVFP) was an early

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

and

anti-Semitic 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 ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

that took its name from the

Völkisch movement The ''Völkisch'' movement (german: Völkische Bewegung; alternative en, Folkist Movement) was a German ethno-nationalist movement active from the late 19th century through to the Nazi era, with remnants in the Federal Republic of Germany af ...

, a populist movement focused on folklore and the German ''Volk''. The DVFP was founded on 16 December 1922, when Wilhelm Henning,

Reinhold Wulle Reinhold Wulle ( – ) was a German Völkisch politician and publicist active during the Weimar Republic. ''Völkisch'' politics Wulle was born in Falkenberg, Pomerania. He studied theology, German and history and in 1908 embarked on a career as ...

and

Albrecht von Graefe Albrecht von Graefe may refer to: * Albrecht von Graefe (ophthalmologist) (1828-1870), Prussian opthalmologist * Albrecht von Graefe (politician) Albrecht von Graefe (1 January 1868 – 18 April 1933) was a German landowner and right-wing ...

broke from the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

(DNVP). Leading right-wing figures such as

Ernst Graf zu Reventlow Ernst Christian Einar Ludvig Detlev, Graf zu Reventlow (18 August 1869 – 21 November 1943) was a German naval officer, journalist and Nazi politician. Early life Ernst Christian Einar Ludvig Detlev, Graf (Count) zu Reventlow was born at Husum, ...

Artur Dinter Artur Dinter (27 June 1876 – 21 May 1948) was a German writer and Nazism, Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Thuringia. Biography Dinter was born in Mulhouse, in Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire (now France) to Josef Dinter, a c ...

and

Theodor Fritsch Theodor Fritsch (born Emil Theodor Fritsche; 28 October 1852 – 8 September 1933), was a German publisher and journalist. His antisemitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews in the late 19th and early 20th c ...

joined the party on its foundation. Many members of the

Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund The ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund'' (English: German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation) was the largest, and most active anti-semitic federation in Germany after the First World War,Beurteilung des Reichskommissars für � ...

joined the DVFP after the former was banned. After the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

was banned in the wake of the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...

, the DVFP entered into an electoral alliance with many Nazis to form the

National Socialist Freedom Movement The National Socialist Freedom Movement (, NSFB) or National Socialist Freedom Party (, NSFP) was a political party in Weimar Germany created in April 1924 during the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch. Adolf Hitler and many Nazi leaders were jai ...

in early 1924, a move endorsed by

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

and encouraged by Graefe, who hoped to gain control of the far right as a whole. However this alliance was not a success, plans for a full merger fell through in August 1924 and Graefe and Wulle re-formed the DVFP, now named the German Völkisch Freedom Movement, as a rival to the Nazi Party in February 1925.Detlef Mühlberger, ''Hitler's Voice: The Völkischer Beobachter, 1920-1933. ''Organisation & Development of the Nazi Party'', Volume 1 (Peter Lang, 2004), p. 105

References

Political parties established in 1922 Political parties in the Weimar Republic Far-right political parties in Germany Political parties disestablished in 1925 1922 establishments in Germany German nationalist political parties Banned political parties in Germany Banned far-right parties {{Germany-party-stub