Jürgen Elsässer (born 20 January 1957) is a German
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and
political
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
activist. Once active in left-wing circles, he later became a prominent figure in
Germany's far-right scene. He is the founder of
Compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a t ...
, a magazine classified as extremist by the
BfV in 2021 and banned by the
BMI in 2024, though the ban was later overturned, with a final decision pending.
Life
Jürgen Elsässer was born in
Pforzheim
Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany.
It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...
in 1957, the son of a
watchmaker and a secretary. He described himself and his two sisters in their youth as typical admirers of left-wing values, influenced by the
1968 protest movement a few years earlier. His father, in contrast, was a conservative
CDU voter.
In order to secure a teaching position, Elsässer pledged support for the
Liberal democratic basic order, a prerequisite for employment in the German
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...
aimed at preventing political extremists from holding state-funded jobs. At the time, he was still active in communist organizations.
He worked as a teacher in a
vocational school
A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...
in
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
for 14 years before beginning his career as journalist for left-wing magazines in 1994. Elsässer published his early works in ''Arbeiterkampf'' (''Workers' Struggle''), a newspaper published by the ''
Kommunistischer Bund'' (Communist League), an organization he was involved with for several years. In 1990, he was a sharp critic of
German reunification
German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
, fearing it might lead to the rise of a ''Viertes Reich'' (
Fourth Reich).
In 2010, he founded ''
Compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a t ...
'' magazine, where he continues to serve as editor-in-chief.
In 2011, Elsässer expressed his admiration for Serbian leader
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
.
During the
2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine
From the end of February 2014, in the aftermath of the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity, which resulted in the ousting of Russian-leaning President of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, demonstrations by Russian-backed, ...
, Elsässer was an outspoken supporter of Russian president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
and received much criticism from the German media for his position. He was a sharp critic of the migration policy of the former German chancellor
Angela Merkel.
Since 2016, Elsässer has positioned Compact magazine as a political campaign platform for the far-right AfD
. He aims to expand its reach through a
Querfront strategy, seeking to unite far-left and far-right groups under nationalist themes.
Ideological Development
Elsässer was one of the political creators of the
Anti-Germans movement.
From about 1975 to 2008, Elsässer was an author, editor and co-publisher of various left-wing print media such as “Jungle World”, “junge Welt”, “konkret” and “Neues Deutschland”.
In 1994, he was editor of the leftist ''
Junge Welt'' (''Young World''). He was also co-editor of the largest left-wing monthly magazine ''
konkret'' until he was dismissed.
Starting in 2010, Elsässer publicly aligned himself with the far-right movement. Since then, he has promoted positions that are conspiracy-driven, anti-American, pro-Russian, homophobic, and racist. Some of his statements have been classified as anti-Semitic.
Reception
Melanie Amann of ''
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' described Elsässer's presence as "a mixture of evangelical preacher and teleshopping moderator", noting his style would "work independently of his message."
In a 2018 interview with ''Der Spiegel'', Dietmar Koschmieder (editor in chief of ''Junge Welt'') remarked: "If you ask me,
lsässerhas no convictions at all... He is an expert at emotional manipulation, adapting his message to suit his target audience."
Publications
* 2010: ''Der Euro-Crash. Griechenland war nur der Anfang (The Euro crash. Greece was just the beginning).'' Hoemlius Verlag
* 2009: ''Angriff der Heuschrecken. Zerstörung der Nationen und globaler Krieg. (Attack of the locusts. Destruction of nations and global war).'' Pahl-Rugenstein Nachfolger
* 1998: ''Braunbuch DVU. Eine deutsche Arbeiterpartei und ihre Freunde. Vorw. v. Jürgen Trittin (Brownbook
DVU. A German workers party and their friends. Preface:
Jürgen Trittin).''
Konkret Literatur Verlag
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsasser, Jurgen
1957 births
Living people
21st-century German journalists
Anti-immigration politics in Germany
Former Marxists
German male journalists
German male writers
German nationalists
German activists
Junge Welt editors
New Right (Europe)
Pegida activists
People from Pforzheim
Russophilia