Michael Kühnen (21 June 1955 – 25 April 1991) was a leader in the German neo-Nazi movement. He was one of the first post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Germans to openly embrace

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and call for the formation of a

Fourth Reich The term Fourth Reich () is commonly used to refer to a hypothetical successor to Adolf Hitler's Third Reich (1933–1945) and the possible resurgence of Nazi ideas. It has also been used pejoratively by political opponents. Origin The term " ...

. He enacted a policy of setting up several differently named groups in an effort to confuse German authorities, who were attempting to shut down neo-Nazi groups. Kühnen's

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

was made public in 1986, and he died of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

-related complications in 1991.

Early life

Kühnen was raised as a staunch

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and initially came to politics in his early teens as a

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

. When he took a job at the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

s of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Kühnen moved to the

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

, joining a local

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD) youth group. He did not remain long in the NPD, soon denouncing party members as "a bourgeois crowd of swines", and leaving the party to join the neo-Nazi movement.Lee, op cit

1970s

Following his departure from the NPD, Kühnen had a brief spell in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

but he was dishonourably discharged in 1977 for attempting to spread Nazi

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

in his barracks. During that time, he studied at the Helmut Schmidt University (originally known as the University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg), located in

, Germany."Wir wissen zuwenig"
/ref> After this expulsion, he took his first steps in organising a new movement, setting up the Action Front of National Socialists. Initially, the organisation consisted only of Kühnen, but he soon made contact with like-minded individuals across

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, resulting in a nationwide network of cells. The group soon became notorious for its violent activities, which included

bank robberies Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tel ...

and arms raids, often working in tandem with other similar groups, such as the

Wiking-Jugend The "Wiking-Jugend" (WJ, "Viking youth") was a German Neo-Nazi organization modeled on the Hitlerjugend. Wiking Youth emerged in 1952 from a merger of several German right-wing extremist youth groups. In 1994 it was banned by the Federal Minist ...

. Known as the leader of the group, Kühnen was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to three and a half years in prison for inciting violence and racial hatred. Released in 1982, he set about trying to reorganise the Action Front of National Socialists, merging them with

Thomas Brehl Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

's National Activists, but the attempts were hindered by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

, who outlawed the group in November 1983.

1980s

With the ANS/NA banned, Kühnen turned his attention to the fledgling

Free German Workers' Party The Free German Workers' Party (, FAP) was a neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1995. History The FAP was founded in 1979. However, it was largely insignificant until the banning of ...

(FAP) and encouraged his supporters to infiltrate and take over the group. Kühnen's bid was successful (largely due to the fairly insignificant nature of the FAP before Kühnen), but nonetheless, he found that support for his cause had waned during his prior incarceration. Some believe this was due to a move away from orthodox Nazism to

Strasserism Strasserism () refers to a dissident current associated with the early Nazi movement. Named after brothers Gregor and Otto Strasser, Strasserism emphasized revolutionary nationalism, economic antisemitism, and opposition to both Marxist socia ...

in the German underground, leaving Kühnen's position somewhat compromised. Kühnen then began to look to

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer, politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party. A close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler, Röhm was the co-founder and leader of the (SA), t ...

for inspiration, and he broke away from full support for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, condemning Hitler's purges against the SA and calling for a return to pre-1934 Nazism. Alongside the infiltration, he also formed his own successor group, the Gesinnungsgemeinschaft der Neuen Front in 1984. With rumours spreading that he was to be arrested, Kühnen fled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in early 1984 and sought refuge with the neo-Nazi group

Fédération d'action nationale et européenne The ''Fédération d'action nationale et européenne'' (FANE) was a small French far-right neo-Nazi organisation founded in April 1966. It was led by Mark Fredriksen, a bank employee who became involved in activism for French Algeria after serving ...

(FANE), with whom he had previously established contacts. Whilst working with FANE, he visited

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and met with

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

, establishing relations with the former

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

man who had become a central player in the Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe ( CEDADE). Kühnen was arrested in Paris and

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

to Germany to face trial on a number of charges related to neo-Nazism. He was sentenced to a further four years in prison. In 1986, while in prison, Kühnen

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. In response to critics within the neo-Nazi movement, he argued that his lack of a family meant he had more time to devote to militancy, and he pointed out that

was also a gay Nazi. However, Kühnen lost much support in the strongly-

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

neo-Nazi scene. The FAP split, with Kühnen's former ally

Friedhelm Busse Friedhelm Busse (4 February 1929 – 23 July 2008) was a German Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi politician and activist. In a career taking in some six decades Busse established himself as a leading voice of German neo-Nazism. Early activism The son of an ...

leading the larger anti-gay wing, which held effective control of the party by 1989. Kühnen was released from prison in March 1988, and almost immediately, he set up a new group, Nationale Sammlung. When this group was banned the following year, he enacted a policy of setting up group after group, in an effort to confuse authorities. Of these movements, German Alternative was the most well-known. During this period, it was revealed that Kühnen had contracted

.Rand C. Lewis, ''The Neo-Nazis and German Unification'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996, p. 37

1990s

Again implementing his direct action approach, Kühnen led a group of

white power skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, music of white skin head white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white natio ...

s to

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

on 8 April 1991, to protest against the opening of the Polish border. Despite a police presence, Kühnen led the group in throwing stones and other projectiles at cars crossing the border. Kühnen died on 25 April 1991, of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-related diseases. He was cremated at the Kasseler Westfriedhof (Kassel West Cemetery). The Polish border incident was Kühnen's last public action. Within Germany, his death had a twofold effect on neo-Nazism; it meant the loss of its most dynamic leader, and it meant that the divisions he had caused would be largely left behind.Lee, op cit, p.252–254 He was effectively succeeded by Christian Worch, his closest ally, whom Kühnen had nominated to take over his leadership.

References

*''Kühnen v. Federal Republic of Germany'', 12 May 1988, Application No. 12194/86 (European Commission of Human Rights)

Footnotes

External links

Michael Kuhnen, 35, Top German Neo-Nazi
April 26, 1991 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhnen, Michael 1955 births 1991 deaths German nationalists 20th-century German criminals German neo-Nazis German politicians convicted of crimes German prisoners and detainees German Army personnel German gay politicians 20th-century German LGBTQ people LGBTQ conservatism German political party founders Politicians from Bonn Strasserism Third Position AIDS-related deaths in Germany Helmut Schmidt University alumni Neo-Nazi politicians in Germany Former Marxists People convicted of racial hatred offences Prisoners and detainees of Germany