Refer Report

After the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) caused a stir by coming in first place for the first time since World War II in the Thuringia state elections in eastern Germany on the 1st, attention is focused on Björn Höcke (52), the Thuringia regional representative of AfD. His political growth, which is considered far-right even within the party, shows the strengthening of the far-right character of AfD, which started out as anti-euro and anti-immigrant.

Höcke was born in Westphalia, then West Germany, but moved to Bornhagen, now East Germany, in Thuringia, at the age of 36. He worked as a history teacher there and organized the Thuringian branch of the Alternative for Germany party when it was founded in 2013. He was also elected as a member of the Thuringian state legislature in the 2014 elections. He is said to have been greatly influenced by his grandfather, who lived in East Prussia and was expelled from the country after Germany’s defeat in World War II. East Prussia is now divided between Russia, Poland, and Lithuania.

The core members of the AfD tried several times to oust Höcke from the party, but were thwarted. In fact, two of the party’s founding members, Bernd Lucke and Frauke Petry, who were concerned about the party’s radicalization to the far right, left the party in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Thuringia, which he leads, became the strongest supporter of AfD, and his base was solidified. In 2022, the German daily Der Spiegel ran an article titled “The Real Leader” rather than “AfD’s” leader.

He does not hide his far-right leanings. In May, a court in Halle, Germany, fined him 13,000 euros (about 19.2 million won) for using the slogan of the Nazi party’s Storm Troopers, “All for Germany,” during an election campaign. He claimed he did not know that the slogan was from the Storm Troopers, but the court ruled that it was impossible for a history teacher to have known. He has also called the Holocaust memorial in central Berlin a “shameful monument.”

Under his influence, the Alternative for Germany has become more extreme than other far-right parties in Europe. Earlier this year, four Alternative for Germany politicians met with far-right activists to discuss deporting millions of migrants to their countries of origin, causing a stir. Marine Le Pen, who effectively leads France’s far-right National Rally (FN), has also recently distanced herself from the Alternative for Germany.

Berlin correspondent Han Ju-yeon

Source: Korean