Björn Höcke

Björn Höcke (born 1 April 1972) is a German politician and a member of Alternative for Germany (AfD). Along with Andreas Kalbitz, Höcke was the leader of the AfD's far-right Der Flügel faction, which the German government's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution declared a right-wing extremist organization.[1][2]

Björn Höcke
Höcke in 2019
Leader of Alternative for Germany in Thuringia
Assumed office
February 2013
Preceded byOffice established
Member of the Landtag of Thuringia
Assumed office
5 December 2014
Personal details
BornApril 1 1972 (age 51)
Lünen, West Germany
Political partyAfD (2013–present)
Children4

Early life and education

Björn Höcke was born in Lünen, Westphalia. His grandparents were expelled Germans from East Prussia. He took his Abitur at the Rhein-Wied-Gymnasium, Neuwied, in 1991.[3]

Höcke is a former history teacher,[2] teaching at the Rhenanus School, a comprehensive school in Bad Sooden-Allendorf.[4]

Political career
Björn Höcke congratulates Thomas Kemmerich on his election, during the 2020 Thuringian government crisis,

Höcke was a short-time member of the Junge Union.[5]

As one of the founders of AfD Thuringia, he became Member of the Landtag of Thuringia, the state assembly of the federal state of Thuringia in Germany during the 2014 Thuringian State Elections.[6] Höcke is the speaker of the parliamentary group of the AfD and he is the spokesman of the Thuringia Landesverband (English: Regional Association) of his party.[7] He is said to be part of the "national-conservative wing" of the AfD.[8] His faction of the party is known as the Flügel (the Wing)[9] and 40 percent of the AfD party members identify themselves with it.[10]

In September 2019, Höcke threatened "massive consequences" to a ZDF journalist who refused to restart an interview after a series of difficult questions and after asking fellow party members whether various quotes are from his book or from Hitler's Mein Kampf.[11]

During the 2019 Thuringian state election, The AfD under the leadership of Höcke more than doubled its vote share to 23%, overtaking the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to place second.

In November 2021, Höcke's parliamentary immunity in the Landtag of Thuringia was cancelled. He was accused to have ended a speech in May with a phrase used by the SA whose use is illegal under insignia legislation. The phrase was "Everything for Germany".[12] In June 2023 Höcke was charged.[13][14][15][16]

Political views

Höcke espouses far-right views.[17] Political scientists such as Gero Neugebauer and Hajo Funke have commented that Höcke's opinions are close to the National Democratic Party of Germany and consider his statements völkisch, racist and fascist.[18][19] In September 2019, a German court ruled that describing Höcke as fascist was not libellous. However, a later court ruling in 2020 ruled against the FDP politician Sebastian Czaja for stating that the court ruling had classified Höcke as a fascist.[20]

Immigration policy

Regarding the European migrant crisis, Höcke opposes Germany's asylum policy,[21][22] leading regular demonstrations in Erfurt against the federal government's asylum policy, which regularly attracted several thousand sympathizers.[23] He opposes the euro, favoring a return to national currencies.[24]

He is reported to have declared that if Europe would keep on taking in immigrants, the African "reproductive behavior" will not change.[25] In 2017, Höcke stated "dear young African men: for you there is no future and no home in Germany and in Europe!"[26]

Family policy

Höcke has called for more "Prussian virtues" and promotes natalist views, specifically the "three-child family as a political and social model."[27] He opposes gender mainstreaming and demands an end of what he calls "social experiments" that undermine what he deems the "natural gender order."[28]

Education policy

He opposes the mainstreaming of students with disabilities, calling for such students to go to separate schools, and opposes school sexual education, which he regards as "early sexualization of the students," and wants to "stop the dissolution of the natural polarity of the two sexes".[29]

Controversies

Ties to Neo-Nazis

Höcke has links with neo-Nazi circles in Germany.[1][2] Höcke has written with Thorsten Heise, a leader of NPD.[30][31] In 2015 Höcke was accused of having contributed to Heise's journal People in Motion (Volk in Bewegung) and The Reichsbote under a pseudonym ("Landolf Ladig"). Höcke denied having ever written for NPD papers, but refused to give a statutory declaration as demanded by the AfD Federal Executive Board.[32][33]

In a 2014 email to party colleagues, Höcke advocated the abolition of section 86 of the German Criminal Code (which prohibits the spread of propaganda by unconstitutional organizations) and section 130 of the German Criminal Code (which criminalizes incitement to hatred towards other groups).[34] This would also have legalized Holocaust denial, which is illegal in Germany.[35]

Allegations of antisemitism
A replica of the Holocaust memorial was erected on the property adjacent to Höcke.

Höcke gave a speech in Dresden in January 2017, in which, referring to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin (the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe), he stated that "we Germans are the only people in the world who have planted a memorial of shame in the heart of their capital"[36] and suggested that Germans "need to make a 180 degree change in their commemoration policy".[37][38]

The speech was widely criticized as antisemitic, among others by Jewish leaders in Germany, and he was described by his party chairwoman, Frauke Petry, in response as a "burden to the party".[36][39] As a result of his speech, the majority of leaders of the AfD asked in February 2017 that Björn Höcke be expelled from the party. In May 2018 an AfD tribunal ruled that Höcke was allowed to stay in the party.[40][11]

After Höcke's "monument of shame" comment, the Center for Political Beauty, a Berlin-based art collective, erected a full-scale replica of one section of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin within viewing distance of Höcke's home in Bornhagen as a reminder of German history.[17]

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Höcke claimed that "Hitler was regarded as only bad".[38][41] [42]

A video of Höcke emerged in March 2020 in which he used an Auschwitz pun while attacking critics of his Flügel faction. The faction had been placed under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution shortly before the video surfaced.[43]

Bernd Höcke

In March 2015 the newspaper Thüringer Allgemeine used "Bernd" erroneously as Höcke's first name.[44] After Höcke complained publicly about this incident, the heute-show, a late night satirical news show, started to systematically use "Bernd" for his first name as a running gag.[45] Later other comedians adopted the idea referring to him as "Bernd" as well.[46][47] This widespread use among comedians lead to reporters and anchormen of various news media erroneously using "Bernd" on several occasions.[48][49][50] In January 2018 even an original press release of the Bundestag accidentally used "Bernd" before it was corrected on the same day.[51][52] In December 2020 the AfD of North Rhine-Westphalia accidentally invited journalists to a party event with "Herrn [Mr.] Bernd Höcke".[53]

References
  1. Schuetze, Christopher F. (25 March 2020). "Far-Right Faction of German Populist Party Vows to Dissolve". The New York Times.
  2. Bennhold, Katrin (12 March 2020). "Germany Places Part of Far-Right Party Under Surveillance". The New York Times.
  3. "Fraktionsvorsitzender der AfD Björn Höcke besucht seine Heimatstadt Neuwied". Der Lokalanzeiger. 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  4. "Trotz 'menschenfeindlicher Positionen': AfD-Politiker Björn Höcke bleibt Beamter in Hessen" [Despite 'anti-human positions': AfD politician Björn Höcke remains a civil servant in Hesse]. Frankfurter Allgemeine (in German). 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  5. Büscher, Wolfgang (2 November 2015). "AfD-Rechtsaußen Höcke ist von ganz alter Schule". Die Welt.
  6. "Landtagswahl 2014: Welche Koalitionen sind in Thüringen möglich?"". Thüringische Landeszeitung. 16 July 2014.
  7. "AfD Vorstand Thüringen".
  8. "Thüringen: Ausschuss hebt Immunität von AfD-Fraktionschef Höcke auf". Der Spiegel. 3 July 2015.
  9. Huggler, Justin (27 October 2019). "Germany's 'new Hitler' poised to lead AfD to regional election gains". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 25 February 2020.(subscription required)
  10. "AfD's Björn Höcke: Firebrand of the German far right". Deutsche Welle. 2 January 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  11. "AfD politician threatens journalist after Hitler comparison". The Guardian. 16 September 2019.
  12. "Nach Strafanzeige: Justizausschuss hebt Immunität von AfD-Fraktionschef Höcke auf" (in German). MDR. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  13. "Prominent figure in German far-right party charged over alleged Nazi slogan". ABC News. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  14. "AfD politician Höcke charged with using Nazi slogan – DW – 06/05/2023". dw.com. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  15. "Prominent German politician charged with alleged use of Nazi slogan". Associated Press. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  16. "German far-right politician charged over Nazi slogan". The Local Europe. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  17. Katrin Bennhold (25 December 2017). "For One Far-Right Politician, Forgetting Germany's Past Just Got Harder". The New York Times.
  18. "Eindeutig rechtsextremistisch". Handelsblatt. 2 October 2015.
  19. "Die AfD hat sich rechtsradikalisiert". Deutschlandfunk. 23 October 2015.
  20. Deutschland, RedaktionsNetzwerk (23 March 2020). "Björn Höcke von Gericht nicht als Faschist erklärt - Urteil werde missverstanden". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  21. "AfD fordert Aussetzung des Schengener Abkommens". Die Zeit. 27 August 2014.
  22. Leubecher, Marcel (3 November 2015). "Welche Rechten stecken hinter dem schwarzen Haken?". Die Welt.
  23. "Hessen will AfD-Politiker Höcke nicht mehr unterrichten lassen". Der Tagesspiegel. 18 January 2016.
  24. "Kandidaten Bundestagswahl 2013". wen-wählen.de. 2013.
  25. Knight, Ben (3 July 2016). "What does the AfD stand for?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  26. Chazan, Guy (7 September 2017). "German elections: how the right returned". www.ft.com. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  27. "AfD Kandidat Höcke im Interview: Drei-Kinder-Familie ist politisches Leitbild". Thüringische Landeszeitung. 21 July 2014.
  28. Oestreich, Heide (17 September 2014). "Natürliche Geschlechterordnung". Die Tageszeitung.
  29. "AfD will sich mit rechten Thesen profilieren". Der Tagesspiegel. 31 July 2014.
  30. "Keiner traut sich an Höcke heran" (in German). Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  31. Kemper, Andreas (3 July 2019). "Im Dienste einer großen 'Abrechnung'". der Freitag (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  32. Weiland, Severin; Hebel, Christina (29 April 2015). "Mutmaßlicher Kontakt zur NPD: AfD-Landeschef Höcke lehnt eidesstattliche Erklärung ab". Spiegel.
  33. Vogel, Hannes (13 September 2018). "Alte Kameraden". Zeit (in German).
  34. "Höcke sorgt erneut mit Äußerungen für Wirbel". Focus (in German). 29 May 2015.
  35. "Neuer Beleg für NPD-Nähe von AfD-Landeschef Höcke In: MDR.de 29 May 2015". Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  36. "AfD-Mann Höcke löst mit Kritik an Holocaust-Gedenken Empörung aus". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 18 January 2017.
  37. Matthias Kamann (19 January 2017). "Was Höcke mit der "Denkmal der Schande"-Rede bezweckt". Die Welt (in German).
  38. Troianovski, Anton (2 March 2017). "The German Right Believes It's Time to Discard the Country's Historical Guilt". The Wall Street Journal. Karlsruhe.
  39. "AfD-Chefin Petry: "Höcke ist eine Belastung für die Partei"". Junge Freiheit (in German). 18 January 2017.
  40. "Germany's right-wing AfD seeks to expel state leader over Holocaust remarks". Deutsche Welle.
  41. Kröning, Anna (6 March 2017). "AfD-Politiker: Björn Höcke hat eine irritierende Ansicht zu Adolf Hitler". Die Welt.
  42. "Höcke über Hitler: Es war doch nicht alles schlecht". 6 March 2017.
  43. "Höcke schockiert mit Auschwitz-Wortspiel". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  44. "Ein 'Vollpfosten' für 'Bernd': ZDF 'würdigt' AfD-Chef Höcke". Thüringer Allgemeine (in German). 21 December 2015.
  45. Oelrichs, Nico (2021). Die AfD-Abrechnung: Wie rechts(radikal) ist sie wirklich? (in German). München: neobooks. p. 43. ISBN 978-3-7529-3226-3.
  46. "Kein Flitzer! Das macht der Nackte bei Jan Böhmermann". Neo Magazin Royale.
  47. "Björn Höcke? Bernd Höcke? Wie heißt der Mann denn nun?". Augsburger Allgemeine. 21 April 2017.
  48. "Bernd oder Björn Höcke – Die ultimative Verwirrung hat ein neues Level erreicht". Vice.com (in German). 20 April 2017.
  49. Steinkuhl, Hendrik (23 March 2017). "'Ein richtiger Loser-Vorname': AfD-Politiker 'Bernd' Höcke wird zum Running-Gag der Medien". Meedia.de.
  50. "Jetzt nennt auch der Bundestag Höcke offiziell 'Bernd' – Erfolgreichster Running Gag aller Zeiten". Vice.com. 25 January 2018.
  51. "Bundestag nennt AfD-Politiker Björn Höcke 'Bernd'". Berliner Morgenpost. 25 January 2018.
  52. "AfD-Politiker mit Namensproblem: Es ist offiziell: Bundestag macht aus Björn Höcke 'Bernd'". SHZ. 26 January 2018.
  53. "Kuriose Verwechslung: AfD in NRW lädt zu Veranstaltung mit 'Bernd Höcke' ein". RND.de. 2 December 2020.
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