List of German far-right publishers (post-1945)

Last updated

This is a list of German far-right publishers (post-1945). In post-World War II Germany, after the defeat of the Nazis and Nazi Germany, the far-right was outlawed by the Allied occupation forces, preventing political continuity of the Nazi Party in a new, post-war form. In West Germany, reformed far-right parties were able to reestablish a foot hold in the national parliament in the early years of the new Federal Republic, courtesy in part to the post-war issues the new country faced. With the recovery of the German economy, the Wirtschaftswunder , the far-right declined in appeal. The far-right, from the 1960s, was characterised by fragmentation and infighting. Following the German reunification, in the early 1990s, the far-right has regained strength and become more of a threat to the democratic Germany again. [1] [2]

Contents

In East Germany, a communist country, the far-right was declared extinct by the government despite the fact that a quarter of all members of the ruling communist party, in 1954, had formerly been members of the Nazi Party. Despite the official line, racism and far-right ideology existed and, towards the end of the country's existence in the late 1980s, increased. It was however swept under the carpet by the ruling authorities as ordinary violence and hooliganism rather than being allowed to be seen as a resurface of far-right ideology. [3]

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the far-right (German : Rechtsextremismus) as a movement against the equality of all people as guaranteed by the German constitution, and as enemies of the democratic nature of the German state. Their aim is to establish an authoritarian state, modelled on the Führerprinzip . The far-right places undue value on race and ethnicity which results in xenophobia and racism. Antisemitism is a core principal of their ideology. [4] Far-right publications generally glorify Germany's Nazi past and the armed forces of the era, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, offering historically revisionist publications and attempting to promote the myth of the "Clean Wehrmacht" and "Clean Waffen-SS". Far-right publisher are however careful to not out-rightly deny or trivialise the Holocaust, this being a criminal offence in Germany, as many have been prosecuted for such offences in the past. [5]

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, as of 2017, classifies three political parties as far-right, the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), Die Rechte and Der III. Weg, with a combined membership of 6,050. [6]

The far-right print media in Germany is predominately organised in the Gesellschaft für freie Publizistik  [ de ], GfP, the largest far-right association of publishers, authors and book sellers, which was formed by former SS officers and Nazi officials in 1960. [7] The number of far-right publishers in Germany independent of political parties has declined from 45 in 2001 to 30 in 2016. [5]

Far-right publishers

Major far-right publishers: [8]

NameLocationEstDisKey peopleNotesRef
Adoria-Verlag Oberhausen Dankwart Strauch (also involved in the Winkelried-Verlag)Mainly publishes World War II related material about the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS
Arndt Verlag Kiel 1963Active Dietmar Munier  [ de ](formerly an official in the NPD)see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8] [9]
Bonus-Verlag Selent see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8]
Deutsche Stimme Verlag Riesa 1976ActiveOwned by the NPD, historically commercially successful but has declined in recent years
Publisher of the Deutsche Stimme
[8] [10]
Druckschriften-und Zeitungsverlag Munich 1958Active Gerhard Frey
Regine Frey since his death in 2013
Publisher of Germany's longest-running far-right newspaper, the National Zeitung [8]
Druffel-Verlag 19521991 Helmut Sündermann  [ de ](former Secretary of state in the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda)Druffel-Verlag, together with Türmer-Verlag and Vowinckel-Verlag, formed the Verlagsgesellschaft Berg  [ de ] in 1991 [8]
Edition Zeitgeschichte see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8]
Grabert Verlag Tübingen 19532013 Herbert Grabert  [ de ](former high ranking Nazi official)Originally formed as the Verlag der deutschen Hochschullehrerzeitung, renamed in 1974
Taken over by the Hohenrain Verlag GmbH in 2013
Grabert was one of the oldest and most important far-right independent publishers in Germany
[8]
Hohenrain Verlag Tübingen 1985ActiveGrabert familyFormed as an offshoot of the Grabert Verlag in 1985 which it took over in 2013
Revisionist and Holocaust-questioning publications
Publisher of the Euro-Kurier and Deutschland in Geschichte und Gegenwart
[8]
Junge Freiheit Verlag Berlin 1990ActiveDieter SteinPart of the Neue Rechte
Publisher of the Junge Freiheit
[8]
Kopp Verlag Rottenburg 1993ActiveJochen KoppMainly publishes books dealing with conspiracy theories, propagates a racist world view, commercially one of the most successful far-right publishers [8]
Landwehr-Verlag see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8]
Nation Europa Verlag Coburg 19512010Formed by Arthur Ehrhardt (former SS-Sturmbannführer and chief of the Bandenbekämpfung at the Führer Headquarters )Best known for its publication Nation & Europa
Taken over by the Arndt-Verlag in 2010
[8] [11]
Orion-Heimreiter-Verlag 1983Ernst Frank (Brother of Karl Hermann Frank, a high-ranking Nazi official in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia)see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8] [12]
Pour le Mérite-Verlag see Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken [8]
Schild-Verlag  [ de ] Zweibrücken 19492004Taken over by the VDM Heinz Nickel  [ de ] in 2004
Türmer-Verlag see Verlagsgesellschaft Berg
VDM Heinz Nickel  [ de ] Zweibrücken 1986ActiveHeinz NickelPublisher of historical revisionist books about World War II
Took over the Schild-Verlag in 2004
Verlag Antaios Steigra 2000ActiveGötz KubitschekOne of the most important publishers of the New Right in Germany [8]
Verlag Bublies  [ de ] Beltheim 1979 [13]
Verlag Hohe Warte Pähl Operated by the xenophobic and antisemitic Bundes für Gotterkenntnis (Ludendorff) e.V., named after Mathilde Ludendorff, dubbed the Great-Grandmother of German antisemitism
Publisher of Mensch und Maß
[8]
Verlagsgesellschaft Berg  [ de ] Gilching 1991ActiveGert Sudholt (executive director, had previously been found guilty of Volksverhetzung (Incitement to hatred) and jailed, also leader the GfP for many years)Merger of the publishers Druffel-Verlag, Türmer-Verlag and Vowinckel-Verlag
One of the largest independent far-right publishers in Germany, manly publishing revisionist historical material
Publisher of Deutsche Geschichte and Deutsche Annalen
[8]
Verlagsgruppe Lesen & Schenken Martensrade Active Dietmar Munier  [ de ](formerly an official in the NPD)One of the largest far-right publishers in Germany
The group consists of the following publishers:
  • Arndt Verlag
  • Bonus-Verlag
  • Edition Zeitgeschichte
  • Landwehr-Verlag
  • Orion-Heimreiter-Verlag
  • Pour le Mérite-Verlag

Publications:

  • Deutsche Militärzeitschrift (DMZ)
  • Deutsche Militärzeitschrift – Zeitgeschichte (DMZ – Zeitgeschichte)
  • Zuerst!

Production company:

  • Excelsior

It mainly publishes revisionist material that glorifies the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS

[8]
Vowinckel-Verlag see Verlagsgesellschaft Berg
Winkelried-Verlag Leisnig ActiveDankwart Strauch (Owner since 2014, is also involved in the Adoria-Verlag)Formed as the Buchdienst Kaden, predominantly publishes material glorifying the Nazi era and Waffen-SS, publishing books by, among others, David Irving and Erich Ludendorff [8]

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Federal domestic intelligence agency of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is the federal domestic intelligence agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. Together with the Landesämter für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) at the state level, the office is tasked with intelligence-gathering on threats concerning the democratic order, the existence and security of the federation or one of its states, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples; with counter-intelligence; and with protective security and counter-sabotage. The BfV reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The President is Thomas Haldenwang; he was appointed in 2018.

German Peoples Union Nationalist political party in Germany

The German People's Union was a political party in Germany. It was founded by publisher Gerhard Frey as an informal association in 1971 and established as a party in 1987. Financially, it was largely dependent on Frey. In 2011, it merged with the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).

Wiking-Jugend German Neo-Nazi youth organization

The "Wiking-Jugend" was a German Neo-Nazi organization modeled on the Hitlerjugend.

Black Sun (symbol) Neo-Nazi and satanism symbol

The Black Sun is a Nazi symbol, a type of sun wheel employed in post–Nazi Germany by neo-Nazis and in some strains of Satanism. The symbol's design consists of twelve radial sig runes, similar to the symbols employed by the SS in their logo. It first appeared in Nazi Germany as a design element in a castle at Wewelsburg remodeled and expanded by the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, which he intended to be a center for the SS.

Artgemeinschaft Political party in Germany

The Artgemeinschaft Germanic Faith Community is a German Neopagan and Neo-Nazi organization founded in 1951 by Wilhelm Kusserow, a former member of the SS. In 1983, it merged with the Nordungen. From 1989 to 2009, it was headed by Jürgen Rieger.

Friedhelm Busse German neo-Nazi

Friedhelm Busse was a German neo-Nazi politician and activist. In a career taking in some six decades Busse established himself as a leading voice of German neo-Nazism.

Gerd Honsik was an Austrian writer and lyric poet, and a prominent neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier.

The Zeitgeschichtliche Forschungsstelle Ingolstadt e. V. is a historical revisionist association located in Dunsdorf, Bavaria.

The Blick nach Rechts is a social democratic German-language information service which appears every two weeks on the Internet. Its concern is the current "information about Far-right activities", which in the opinion of the initiators aren't noticed enough by the German media.

Autonome Nationalisten European nationalist militant groups

Autonome Nationalisten are German, British, Dutch and to a lesser degree Flemish Nationalists, who have adopted some of the far-left and Antifa's organizational concepts, demonstration tactics, symbolism, and elements of clothing, including Che Guevara T-shirts and keffiyehs. Similar groups have also appeared in some central and eastern European countries, beginning with Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania and Greece and others.

Anton Maegerle is the Pseudonym of a German journalist. He is also the author of books about far-right politics, right-wing radicalism, the New Right, and right-wing policy in general.

The National-Zeitung was a weekly, extreme right newspaper, published by Gerhard Frey, who also founded the far right Deutsche Volksunion as an association in 1971, turning it into a political party in 1987. The party was merged with the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). NZ was last published in December 2019.

Götz Kubitschek

Götz Kubitschek is a German publisher, journalist and far-right political activist. Kubitschek espouses ethnocentric positions and is one of the most important protagonists of the Neue Rechte in Germany. Hailing from the staff of right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, Kubitschek is one of the founders of the Neue Rechte think tank Institut für Staatspolitik. Since 2002, he is the manager of his self-founded publishing house Antaios, since 2003 chief editor of the journal Sezession, as well as editor of the corresponding blog Sezession im Netz.

Far-right subcultures refers to the symbolism, ideology and traits that hold relevance to various politically extreme right-wing groups and organisations. There are three kinds of subcultures within far-right movements to distinguish: subcultural parasitism, subcultural creation around ideology and subcultures that are networking with far-right movements, as some football hooligans did with neo-nazis.

The Right – Party for Referendum, Sovereignty and Homeland Protection is a far-right political party in Germany.

Der Flügel Far-right faction of the Alternative for Germany

Der Flügel is a far-right faction within Germany's Alternative for Germany, a right-wing populist opposition party. The group was led by Björn Höcke and Andreas Kalbitz. Approximately 20 percent of AfD members are organized also in the "Flügel". Following the request by the AfD executive board to dissolve Der Flügel by the end of April 2020, the group's online presence went offline. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has no reliable knowledge of an actual dissolution. Within the party, the Flügel now calls itself the "social-patriotic faction".

PC Records is a German Neo-Nazi music label. The label is an artistic outlet for the Chemnitz Neo-Nazi scene and one of the most active of the far-right and "Rock Against Communism" music scene in Germany. PC Records is releasing some of the most regionally popular Neo-Nazi bands. Several of the albums released by the label have been indexed for Neo-Fascist content. The label includes a shop and a mailorder business. The name "PC" refers to the phrase "Political Correctness, no thanks!"

Armin Pfahl-Traughber is a German political scientist, sociologist and government official. He is professor of political science at the Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences in Germany and is a former director of the office for far-right extremism in the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. He is an expert on far-right and far-left political extremism, terrorism, anti-semitism and the history of ideas. He is editor of the Jahrbuch für Extremismus- und Terrorismusforschung.

Gruppe S, named after founder Werner S., was an alleged far-right terrorist group in Germany that emerged on the internet in September 2019 and was dismantled in February 2020 with the arrest of several militants. They are said to have armed themselves in a few months, conducted target practice and planned simultaneous assassinations of Muslims in mosques, prominent politicians and people close to anti-fascist movements.

References

  1. Stöss, Richard (12 September 2006). "Geschichte des Rechtsextremismus" [History of the far-right]. Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  2. Hoser, Paul. "Rechtsextremismus" [The Far-right]. Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  3. Wagner, Bernd (2 January 2018). "Vertuschte Gefahr: Die Stasi & Neonazis" [Hidden danger: The Stasi and Neo-Nazis]. Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  4. "Rechtsextremismus" [The Far-right]. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  5. 1 2 Pfeiffer, Thomas (19 December 2016). "Das Kapillarsystem – Geschichte und Entwicklung der rechtsextremistischen Presse" [History and development of the far-right press]. Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  6. "Rechtsextremistische Parteien" [Far-right Parties]. Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  7. Maegerle, Anton (23 December 2016). "Was liest der rechte Rand? Der Blätterwald" [What does the right edge read? Publications]. Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Maegerle, Anton (21 December 2016). "Was liest der rechte Rand? Der Bücherschrank" [What does the right edge read? Publishers]. Federal Agency for Civic Education (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  9. Thomas Grumke, Bernd Wagner (2002). "Arndt-Verlag". Handbuch Rechtsradikalismus [Pocketbook of the far-right]. Leske + Budrich.
  10. Thomas Grumke, Bernd Wagner (2002). "Deutsche Stimme Verlag". Handbuch Rechtsradikalismus [Pocketbook of the far-right]. Leske + Budrich.
  11. Thomas Grumke, Bernd Wagner (2002). "Nation Europa Verlag". Handbuch Rechtsradikalismus [Pocketbook of the far-right]. Leske + Budrich.
  12. Sarkowicz, Hans (9 January 1987). "Die alte Rechte auf neuen Wegen" [The old right on a new path]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  13. "Neue Rechte und alte linke lieder" [The new right and old left songs]. belltower.news (Amadeu Antonio Foundation) (in German). 28 March 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2018.