The Republicans

This article deals with the German party. For the party in the USA see Republican Party , for the French party see Les Républicains , for other meanings see Republicans .

The Republicans
Party leader	Tilo Schöne
vice-chairman	Andreas Wirtz, Mike Baumgärtel
Federal Managing Director	Manuela Wirtz (Federal Secretary)
Federal Treasurer	Tatiana Bahtiri
founding	November 26, 1983
Place of foundation	Munich
newspaper	Germany REP-ORT
Alignment	Right-wing conservatism , national conservatism
Colours)	blue
Bundestag seats	0/709
Number of members	4,033 (as of December 31, 2016)
Minimum age	16 years
Average age	59
Proportion of women	21%
Website	rep.de

Former logo

The Republicans (short name: REP ) is a small German party founded in 1983 in Munich by former members of the CSU . It sees itself as right-wing conservative and also describes itself as " democratic rights ".

It was listed and observed from 1992 by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on suspicion of right-wing extremist tendencies; In 2006, the party as a whole was no longer run as a right-wing extremist, only forces within it. Since 2007, the party is no longer listed in the constitution protection report.

In 1985, Franz Schönhuber succeeded Franz Handlos as party chairman. He wanted to move the REP to the right, following the example of the French Front National . In June 1989 the REP were able to move into the European Parliament with over 7% of the vote ; They had already received 7.5% of the vote in the election for the Berlin House of Representatives in January of that year. They were unable to repeat both successes: they achieved 3.9% in the 1994 European elections , and 3.1% in the 1990 election to the Berlin House of Representatives (shortly after reunification).

From 1992 to 2001 the REP were represented in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg .

Under the chairmanship of Rolf Schlierer (1994 to 2014), the party broke away from right-wing extremist tendencies, including the DVU (which was merged into the NPD in 2011), and lost importance compared to right-wing extremist parties such as the NPD . Since 2001 it has only been represented in local parliaments. In the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in 2016 , it lost its right to state party funding with a 0.3% share of the vote . Kevin Krieger was federal chairman from November 2016 to March 2019 . He was replaced by Tilo Schöne.

Content profile

Republicans have adopted many policy programs since their inception. Were significant

• the 1985 Siegburg Manifesto , with which the party moved to the right,
• the 1987 program, which observers described as openly anti-democratic and racist , and
• the program from 1990, which - after some electoral successes - painted a more moderate right-wing conservative picture. (see section history )

The federal party program passed in 2002 bears the title “The Republicans / social - patriotic - ecological” and is committed to the nation as the basis of democracy. It recalls the traditions of the Wars of Liberation of 1813/15, the German philosophers Fichte and Hegel and the West German politicians Kurt Schumacher and Ludwig Erhard . Their parties have turned away from them and suppressed the national side of democracy. The leitmotif of a “German cultural nation” as opposed to a multicultural society runs through the program. It repeatedly complains that Germany is endangered or damaged by massive immigration, party monopoly, multinational corporations and media indoctrination and in which there is no real democracy. A strong nation-state that gives priority to German over international interests should remedy the situation. The nation state has nothing to do with National Socialism , but strengthens the defenses against totalitarian economic and state power. The men and women who “resisted totalitarian forms of government in order to make a free and democratic Germany possible” are named as role models.

Foreign policy

Election poster of the "Republicans" for the elections to the European Parliament on June 18, 1989

The rejection of economic globalization , which is equated with Americanization , and the EU is the dominant theme here. The program calls for a “Europe of Fatherlands”, that is, nation states with equal rights, and rejects the EU in its existing form. In particular, the idea of ​​a European federal state is rejected and the sovereignty of the member states is demanded. However, there are also demands that move within the framework of the current EU, in particular those that Germany should place even better.

The program also sees Europe as the “refuge of the Christian West”, whose values ​​must be asserted. The Islam was against - so the choice program for 2004 European elections - a "splittist foreign body". The program denies the EU accession Turkey principle and the EU accession of Eastern and Southeastern European countries under current conditions (s. U.). The free movement in the EU for citizens of Eastern and South-Eastern European countries sweeping rejected, but demanded for German in the expulsion territories. The euro is to be abolished and the D-Mark reintroduced.

The REP are demanding a permanent seat for Germany in the UN Security Council , the deletion of the UN enemy states clause against Germany and Japan , an end to the compensation payments made since 1945 and a larger share of Germany's votes in line with its contribution payments.

The REP wanted to make the admission of Poland and the Czech Republic to the EU in 2004 dependent on these states completely repealing the Beneš and Bierut decrees - as demanded by some associations of expellees . Furthermore, they question the finality of the German eastern border ( Oder-Neisse border ), which was recognized in the 1990 Two-Plus-Four Treaty .

Defense policy

The military readiness is to be secured by a common duty for men and women, by an expansion of the Bundeswehr and the limitation of their role as "world auxiliary police" as well as by the inner strength and roots of the military in the people. Furthermore, a reflection on the traditions of German soldiers is required.

Despite its integration into NATO, the Bundeswehr must first be an instrument of its own government. NATO itself is to be replaced by a European security system. German foreign and defense policy should take that of Great Britain and France as a model.

Domestic politics

Republicans see themselves as a "party for law and order". German civil rights are to be strengthened.

Many of the party's demands in this area are in the direction of greater democratization and, in particular, direct democracy . They want referendums on the “adoption of the Basic Law as a constitution by the people”, constitutional amendments, international treaties and “mass immigration” that change the “character of the state”, the direct election of the Federal President , the reduction of the number of MPs according to the turnout and the elimination of blocking clauses like the five percent hurdle .

What is demanded is the restoration of full freedom of opinion, research and science without ideological and political restrictions. The protection of the constitution is to be abolished “in its current form”. Criminal machinations in the unification process after 1990 should be severely punished. The restoration of Prussia as a federal state as part of the reorganization of all federal states with the aim of reducing it to a single-digit number is a goal of the Republicans.

You are calling for significantly tougher action against illegal drug trafficking and the non-trivialization of so-called “ soft drugs ”. They also speak out against fixed rooms and call for work therapy for addicts.

After all, Republicans want a return to conservative values ​​of marriage and family, the dissolution of civil partnerships for homosexuals and more restrictive regulations on abortion .

Immigration policy

Immigration and foreigner policy occupy a large space in the party program within the framework of domestic policy. Warnings are given against “ foreign infiltration ” and mass immigration: These restrict the Germans' “human right to a homeland ” and destroy a feeling of security in a German identity. Germany is not a country of immigration . The request is therefore made to delete the fundamental right to asylum from the Basic Law. Instead, an asylum law is to be enacted below the level of fundamental rights , which should contain restrictive regulations, in particular “accommodation in collective accommodation”, a significantly accelerated asylum procedure and “deportation of criminal asylum seekers even before the procedure is completed”. Church asylum should be prevented by police and criminal law means. Further goals are the immediate deportation of seriously delinquent foreigners or foreigners unwilling to integrate, the dismantling of privileges that these e.g. B. allegedly enjoy social assistance , more intensive prosecution of foreign crimes and compulsory expulsion of foreigners who have received social assistance for more than a year.

Environmental policy

The party describes itself as ecological. In the 1980s, the rejection of nuclear energy was one of her main campaign topics. They later called, among other things, not to allow any new nuclear power plants , but to continue operating the existing ones. Further demands in this area concern the promotion of alternative energy sources, limitation of cross-border traffic, import restrictions for countries with low environmental standards, inclusion of animal protection in the Basic Law, prohibition of slaughtering and stricter laws against genetic engineering .

Party politics

The current program does not explicitly name any other party. In the context of the demands for democracy, however, it criticizes the established parties, i.e. the Union, SPD, FDP and the Greens. Nevertheless, the party does not reject coalitions with other parties that are neither more left than the SPD nor more right than itself. However, a government alliance with the REPs has never been an option for the major parties. The only exception was Baden-Württemberg, where both in 1992 and 1996 several CDU MPs called for talks to be held about a possible joint government formation with the Republicans as well as with the SPD and the Greens. The board decided against it. At the local level, it works with other right-wing conservative parties such as the DSU and the Pro DM . In several election campaigns, the Republicans adopted Richard von Weizsäcker's controversial statement that the parties had "taken prey from the state". Their political correctness is now bans on thinking. In order to limit the parties' power, the Republicans are calling for bans on all party participation in commercial enterprises and on donations by legal entities .

The party decided in 1990 that it was incompatible with the DVU, NPD and “free comradeships” and has since renewed this decision several times. See also: Relationship with right-wing extremist parties and associations .

Media policy

In media policy, the program demands the improvement of the protection of honor and the right of reply and guaranteed representation options for all authorized parties. In order to prevent the spread of "trash" and to create greater objectivity, especially in the presentation of historical facts - instead of manipulating them for popular educational purposes - state standards and a mandatory press code would have to be enforced.

Educational policy

The party wants to maintain the tripartite school system and abolish existing comprehensive schools . They reject anti-authoritarian education ; it is a reason for "spiritual decline and disorientation". You advocate school uniforms to prevent social envy, and want to focus school education on “traditional values” such as discipline, diligence, order, decency and honor. The subject “German” is to be given a higher priority, and the 1996 reform of German spelling is to be reversed. Foreign language teaching should only be allowed in higher schools.

Basically it is the task of the school to create a "positive relationship with the people and the state". For this purpose, the history of Germany should take up more space in the curriculum and in particular an "alleged collective guilt of Germans" should be rejected. All students should also learn the German national anthem .

Economic and social policy

Here the rejection of economic globalization is in the foreground. Germany's economic system, in particular agriculture, should be protected from “unfair” competition by protective tariffs . The social market economy is fundamentally supported, but the welfare state is to be rebuilt in the direction of greater personal provision and a more market economy. Taxes should generally be lower and simpler, and superfluous bureaucracy should be cut. Medium-sized companies, not large corporations, should be promoted. State investments should be used countercyclically . Stronger action should be taken against “unsocial” corporations and monopolies. The problem of aging, which occurs in pension provision, should not be solved by the influx of foreigners, as these would rather “burden” the welfare state. Instead, German families should be given more support.

organization structure

The federal statutes contain the usual provisions in accordance with the Political Parties Act , in particular on membership, structure and party organs.

Federal Executive

Chairman	Tilo Schöne
vice-chairman	Andreas Wirtz (Deputy Federal Chairman), Mike Baumgärtel
Treasurer	Tatiana Bahtiri
Federal Secretary	Manuela Wirtz
Assessor	André Maniera, Volker Marsch, Andre Kalicinski, Detlev Stauch, Daniela Habermann, Pierre Bäumer
State chairman with an advisory vote	Regional association Bavaria: Tilo Schöne, regional association NRW: André Maniera, regional association Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Thomas Wandt, regional association Baden-Württemberg: Ulrich Deuschle , regional association Berlin: André Kalicinski, regional association Hessen: Bert-Rüdiger Förster, regional association Saxony: Mike Baumgärtel, regional association Saxony - Stop: Mr. Kirchhoff, regional association Thuringia: Detlev Stauch, regional association Brandenburg: Christian Kaiser, regional association Lower Saxony: Lars Fintelmann, regional association Schleswig-Holstein: Stefan Bauer

Associations

Organizationally, the Republicans are trying to achieve the status of an established party at all political levels. This becomes clear from the high number of sub-organizations.

Sub-organizations of the Republicans are the Republican Federation of Public Employees (RepBB), the Republican Federation of Women (RBF), the Republican University Association (RHV), the Republican Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (RMV), the Local Political Association (KPV) and the Republican Youth (RJ) .

Since 1989 the Republicans have tried to set up a “ Carl Schurz Foundation” and a “Franz Schönhuber Foundation” as a party-affiliated foundation ; However, this ultimately failed because of a judgment of the Federal Administrative Court , which invoked a threat to the common good through the foundation's purpose, which was "aimed at disregarding the human dignity of foreigners living in Germany and at the abolition of pluralistic democracy"; there was also no violation of the party privilege. On June 15, 1996 the Johann-Gottlieb-Fichte -Stiftung e. V. founded in the Fichte Museum in the baroque castle Rammenau / Saxony. It is the party-affiliated foundation of the Republicans.

Republican youth

Republican Youth Logo

The Republican Youth (RJ) is not a youth association that is independent of the party , but the name for internal party working groups, in which 16 to 30-year-old party members can participate. The Republican Youth was formed in 1992; today's headquarters are in Berlin . The formation and status of these working groups are regulated in Section 31 of the statutes. The RJ sees the future of the Republicans as the “spearhead and forum of a national movement” with the goal of a “national cultural revolution”. According to its own account, the RJ “had almost disintegrated for a long time at the federal level” (status: February 2004); she shows little activity. At most, a few district associations of the RJ seem to be currently still active or even to exist. The Republican youth recently attracted some attention with their advertising campaigns “German is cool” and “Don't turn me on, Ali”.

Data from the regional associations

In addition to the federal association, there are state associations of republicans in 12 federal states. At the municipal level, they have around 90 associations, mainly in southern Germany. The associations of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria are traditionally strong ; Republicans had their best election results in these countries. Finally, the North Rhine-Westphalia Association should be mentioned as comparatively active and influential within the party.

	Regional association	Chairman	District associations	Municipal mandates	Result of the last election of the state parliament	Result of the federal election 2013
	Baden-Württemberg	Ulrich Deuschle	13	7th	0.3% ( 2016 )	0.4%
	Bavaria	Tilo Schöne	18th	37	na ( 2018 )	0.4%
	Berlin	Andre Kalicinski	5	0	na ( 2016 )	0.1%
	Brandenburg	Andre Kalicinski	3	2	na ( 2019 )	0.2%
	Bremen	unoccupied	0	0	na ( 2019 )	n / A
	Hamburg	unoccupied	0	0	na ( 2020 )	n / A
	Hesse	Bert-Rüdiger Förster	10	16	na ( 2018 )	0.3%
	Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Thomas Wandt	0	0	na ( 2016 )	0.1%
	Lower Saxony	Lars Fintelmann	6th	0	na ( 2017 )	0.1%
	North Rhine-Westphalia	André Maniera	20th	10	0.1% ( 2017 )	0.1%
	Rhineland-Palatinate	unoccupied	6th	0	0.2% ( 2016 )	0.4%
	Saarland	unoccupied	0	0	na ( 2017 )	n / A
	Saxony	Mike Baumgartel	3	0	na ( 2019 )	n / A
	Saxony-Anhalt	Mr. Kirchhoff	0	0	na ( 2016 )	n / A
	Schleswig-Holstein	Stefan Bauer	3	0	na ( 2017 )	n / A
	Thuringia	Detlev Stauch	3	0	na ( 2019 )	0.2%
Legend: * na - not started

Membership formalities

According to the statutes, party members can only be “those who are of German or proven German descent, who are committed to the German nation, to the program of the party DIE REPUBLIKANER and its statutes, and who have reached the age of 16”.

Internal decision-making processes

The party's highest decision-making body is the federal party congress, which meets at least every two years. According to the statutes, there has not yet been a federal general assembly at which every member would be entitled to vote. The federal party congress consists of delegates from the district associations or, if applicable, from the state associations. The Federal Presidium and the Federal Executive Committee are elected there, which in addition to the members of the Federal Presidium, in particular, include the state chairmen, parliamentary group chairmen in the federal and state levels and 15 elected assessors. The Federal Presidium, which is responsible for the ongoing political activities and implementation of the resolutions of the party congress and the executive committee, consists of the federal chairman, his deputies, secretary, treasurer, three of the 15 assessors of the executive committee, the general secretary and the federal manager. The party's arbitration tribunals have jurisdiction over internal disputes at federal and state level .

In comparison to other parties, Section 29 of the Articles of Association is unusual:

"Party members who hold a leading position in the party - from the local chairman upwards - are obliged to provide information on their political career to the higher-ranking bodies and to produce a police clearance certificate within four weeks of their election. [...] "

- Section 29 of the Articles of Association

Finances

According to the annual report for 2005, the party had income of around 3.13 million euros and expenditure of around 3.6 million euros that year. It closed with a loss of around half a million euros. This means that the loss was roughly halved compared to the previous year.

The party is involved in the following companies:

• REP-Verlags GmbH in Berlin with 100% shares (main product: party newspaper " Der Republikaner ")
• BRV Verlags- und Vertriebs GmbH based in Röthenbach an der Pegnitz (Bavaria) previously in Münster , with 100% of the shares (sales of promotional products and administrative tasks)

The state subsidy for 2014 was set at € 995,238.26 and was thus again lower than in the previous year. Since the party has not received more than 1% of the votes in any state elections since 2012, under 0.5% of the votes in the 2013 Bundestag election and 2014 European elections, and since it did not run for the 2017 Bundestag election, it has no longer been entitled to money transfers since 2016 from state party funding. In August 2017, insolvency proceedings were initiated against the Rhineland-Palatinate regional association at the request of the Mainz tax office due to outstanding corporate taxes.

history

Emergence

Republicans began in the early 1980s. They emerged as a split from the CSU . The then Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss had denied in the election campaign for the Bundestag election on March 6, 1983 that he would continue to support the GDR , but shortly afterwards he held financial talks with the GDR State Council Chairman Erich Honecker . The Bayerische Landesbank provided a loan to the GDR, for the repayment of which the Federal Government promised a guarantee on June 29, 1983, and shortly afterwards actually guaranteed it. This led to numerous withdrawals from the CSU. The two CSU members of the Bundestag Franz Handlos (1939–2013) and Ekkehard Voigt (1939–2018) also resigned; they also left the CSU to protest against Strauss' leadership style, with which they had been dissatisfied for a long time.

The time under Franz Handlos (1983–1985)

Handlos and Voigt then initiated a new party with like-minded people. This was carried out on November 26, 1983 in Munich in the “Bräupfanne” restaurant, initially in a small group, and the next day the founding congress took place with several 100 invited guests in the Munich Hilton Hotel. The party was named THE REPUBLICANS (REP) . Handlos was elected chairman, Voigt and the journalist and book author Franz Schönhuber as his deputies. The latter came under severe criticism in 1981 with a book about his membership in the Waffen SS .

Most of the founding members of the Republicans were former CDU and CSU members who rejected the Ostkredit and missed the so-called " spiritual and moral turn " announced by Helmut Kohl when he took over the government . Above all, the traditionally conservative defense policy working groups of the Union parties were affected by the transition to the REP. Some saw in the new party the realization of the " fourth party " discussed in the 1970s , an expansion of the CSU to the entire federal territory , which was supposed to bind a right-wing conservative electorate. The first party program also clearly showed the traces of the CDU / CSU origins of most of the founding members. Handlos and Voigt hoped for a "conflagration", that is, mass transfers by CSU members. However, that did not happen.

Handlos and Voigt soon got into ideological battles with Schönhuber. Handlos accused him of wanting to trim the party on a strict right-wing course in order to turn it into a “national-social cadre party” . Schönhuber countered that the party needed a profile that had to be “clearly to the right of the center” . He planned to build the party on the model of the French Front National under Jean-Marie Le Pen . After a court ruled that the impeachment of Schönhuber and Voigt by Handlos was unlawful, Schönhuber won the power struggle, mainly because of his oratorial talent and his popularity as a former television presenter. Thereupon Handlos left the party and then founded the Freedom People's Party (FVP).

The time under Franz Schönhuber (1985–1994)

Franz Schönhuber

At the party congress in Siegburg on June 16, 1985, Schönhuber was elected as the new federal chairman of the party, and a new, clearly to the right, party program (Siegburg Manifesto) was adopted. This set the course for Schönhuber's strategy. Voigt left the party shortly after Schönhuber took over the chairmanship, but later returned to it.

Schönhuber concentrated his work on the upcoming state elections in Bavaria and hired Harald Neubauer , who was previously editor-in-chief of a newspaper by Gerhard Freys, as general secretary, Bavarian state chairman and head of the party newspaper. In 1986 the Republicans were able to achieve a respectable success in the state elections in Bavaria with 3.0% of the vote. The then Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss commented a short time later on the electoral success of the REP as follows: “There must be no democratically legitimized party to the right of the CSU!” This made it clear that the CSU would not tolerate the Republicans as competition and would strictly exclude them.

However, the REP was unable to repeat the election success of Bavaria in the subsequent elections in Bremen (where shortly before the election three members of the CDU had converted to the REP), Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg due to a lack of members and local associations in these federal states. In the years 1986 to 1989 there were various spin-offs . The success in the election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1989 was all the more surprising : Here they won 7.5% of the votes, running for the first time. Since the Berlin state association of the NPD had dissolved shortly before the election after a ban by the Allies , the Republicans were the only right-wing party to run. In television spots for the election campaign, they showed z. B. Pictures of Turkish migrants, underlaid with the film music from Spiel mir das Lied von Tod ; this TV commercial sparked major discussions and thus increased media attention.

In the European elections on June 18, 1989 , the party won 7.1% of the vote. Under the motto “ Europe yes - this EC no!” She moved into the European Parliament with six members , including Schönhuber . This made the Republicans the first party to the right of the CDU and CSU since 1953 that could jump the five percent hurdle in a nationwide election. They achieved their best result in Bavaria with 14.6% of all votes, while the CSU only got 45.4% there, which speaks in favor of a migration from the CSU to the REP.

This surprising success sparked a discussion within the CDU and CSU about how to deal with the Republicans. In particular, the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Carl-Ludwig Wagner was criticized for not wanting to rule out future coalitions with the REP. The Federal Presidium of the CDU ended this discussion on July 4, 1989, by generally ruling out coalitions with the Republicans. Some observers and the Union parties themselves consider this strategy of exclusion to be an important reason why the REPs have never been able to establish themselves.

The successes of 1989 brought a large increase in membership. They also attracted numerous right-wing extremists, whereupon some moderate party members resigned. Soon the party had national associations. The focus was on Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Berlin. In the following local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, the party was able to move into some local parliaments, sometimes with more than 10% of the vote. The so-called Schönhuber party soon after its chairman, who was present in many ways , became a topic of conversation throughout Germany. The North Rhine-Westphalian Office for the Protection of the Constitution began monitoring in September 1989, initially only the Hamburg State Office followed. The other authorities for the protection of the constitution examined an observation until 1992 (see below).

The combination of relatively sudden success, many inexperienced party members and increased public and official observation led to numerous internal party disputes. Suddenly inexperienced party functionaries found themselves holding public office. Exiting party members reported bad economics, corruption and violence. So it came - see also below - the disintegration of various municipal fractions and the dismissal of the state boards in Berlin and Lower Saxony by the federal leadership. Several members of the parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives resigned.

Confiscated advertising material from the REP in January 1990 in the GDR

The 1989 turning point in the GDR did not bring the republicans any advantages, although they had always written German unity on their flags. The People's Chamber banned the party in GDR territory and issued Schönhuber an entry ban, so that the establishment of a party apparatus in the GDR was hindered.

The state elections in 1990 were disappointing for the Republicans; they could not enter a single parliament. Because of these failures, a discussion began in the party about a possible collaboration with the DVU and the NPD, the two major right-wing extremist parties in Germany.

After new disputes over the direction of the party leadership, Schönhuber resigned from the party chairmanship on May 25, 1990. In addition, the party executive asked to be expelled from the party. However, the party's arbitral tribunal rejected this request. The remaining important functionaries agreed in the rejection of Schönhuber, but otherwise quarreled among themselves. The acting chairwoman Johanna Grund preferred the moderate, meanwhile returned party founder Voigt as the new chairwoman. A group around the former NPD members Neubauer and Franz Glasauer wanted to open the party further to the right. At the federal party conference in Ruhstorf on July 7th and 8th, 1990, only Emil Schlee stood up for Schönhuber's opponents. Schönhuber presented himself as a guarantor for the demarcation from the far right and was re-elected chairman with a large majority. However, the party then lost around a third of the then around 20,000 members, including all of its members in the European Parliament except Schönhuber himself. The Ruhstorf delimitation decision (see below ) was also passed at this party congress .

The first all-German federal election in 1990 was also the first in which the Republicans ran, but did not get beyond a result of 2.1%. The CDU under Helmut Kohl achieved an election victory with the promise of quick reunification , although the Republicans have long claimed to be the party that most energetically advocates a quick reunification .

On the same day, the party failed to enter the Berlin House of Representatives, which it had reached two years earlier.

In 1992 the Republicans surprisingly succeeded in entering the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg with 10.9% . They were happy to point out that their members of the state parliament there were “innocent citizens with no right-wing extremist past” .

On December 15, 1992, the Federal Interior Minister and the interior ministers of the federal states decided unanimously to have the Republicans monitored by the constitutional protection authorities; previously only North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg had done this. Observers got the impression that this decision was based less on new discoveries than on the surprising election success in Baden-Württemberg, so it was primarily a political signal. The observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was supposed to stigmatize the party as right-wing extremist and deter moderate voters from voting for Republicans. Both the high election result of the REP and the resolution of the interior ministers were also seen in connection with right-wing extremist acts of violence at the time ( Hoyerswerda , Rostock , Mölln , Solingen ) and the change in the asylum law in 1993.

In 1993 the number of members reached its highest level to date at 23,000. In the early 1990s, the REP won prominent new members, including the former CDU member of the Bundestag Rudolf Krause , the White Rose -member Hans Hirzel , she in 1994 as a candidate for the office of Federal President nominated, the longtime Wuerzburg Mayor Klaus Zeitler (formerly SPD) and Udo Bösch , officer of the Federal Intelligence Service . The latter two soon left the party and criticized Schönhuber's authoritarian leadership and lack of demarcation from right-wing extremism.

In the subsequent elections, including the 1994 European elections , they failed because of the five percent hurdle. In addition, there was the loss of several million D-Marks in state aid because the application was not submitted on time. These failures led to resentment and strong internal party criticism of Schönhuber. He reacted and met Gerhard Frey, the chairman of the DVU, on August 21, 1994. Both agreed to recommend their parties to work together in elections. This was particularly criticized by the state associations of the Republicans in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, as it contradicted the delimitation strategy pursued since the Ruhstorf resolution of 1990. The party's federal executive board therefore decided on October 1, 1994 to remove Schönhuber from his office for behavior that was harmful to the party. However, he successfully sued against this.

The time under Rolf Schlierer (1994-2014)

At the federal party conference on December 17 and 18, 1994 in Sindelfingen , Schönhuber did not stand for re-election. Rolf Schlierer was elected as the new chairman with 335 of 595 votes ; the opposing candidates Rudolf Krause and Wolfgang Hüttl received 224 and 33 votes, respectively. Since Schönhuber tried harder to reach an agreement in the right-wing camp in the following years and thereby increasingly isolated himself within the party, he resigned from the party on November 16, 1995. His successor, Schlierer, succeeded in consolidating the party again when he entered the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg in 1996 ; however, there were many failures in the following years. The party's recurring problems included internal disputes - partly for content-related reasons, partly for personal animosity - technical incompetence and competition, especially from the financially strong DVU .

In 1998 Schlierer, like Schönhuber before, again agreed with Gerhard Frey from the DVU not to compete unnecessarily in elections. However, this had no discernible benefit for the Republicans, who have since failed to pass the five percent hurdle in all European, Bundestag and Landtag elections. Of course, the DVU and REP competed against each other again in Thuringia in 1999 and in Hamburg in 2001; since then there have been no more voting agreements. In 2001 they missed the five percent hurdle in Baden-Württemberg with 4.4% of the vote. Since then, they have not been represented in any state parliament. In the period that followed, there were disputes in which, among others, the Baden-Württemberg state chairman Christian Käs , who had pleaded for a more radical course for the party and was thus an internal party opponent of Schlierer, left the party.

In the 2004 local elections, the party was able to increase its number of seats, especially in Rhineland-Palatinate . Nevertheless, the dispute over electoral alliances with other right-wing parties came to a head. In Dresden, for example, members worked in an electoral alliance with DVU and NPD until they were expelled . The party also planned to run in the Saxon state election on September 19, 2004, but the state chairwoman Kerstin Lorenz withdrew the application against the will of the federal party in order not to compete with the NPD, which then entered the state parliament there with 9.2% moved in. The party leadership then initiated a party expulsion procedure against Lorenz; before the end of the proceedings, she herself converted to the NPD. In addition, the REP district association of Südwürttemberg organized a so-called “Lake Constance Day” in September 2004, in which a total of 150 other people took part, including the former federal chairman Schönhuber as a guest of honor. During this "Lake Constance Day", among other things, the demarcation policy of the REP Federal Executive Committee towards NPD and DVU was attacked.

In November 2004 Schlierer agreed with the chairmen of the right-wing conservative parties DSU and DP to work together to differentiate between the NPD and DVU. This failed, however: The DP deposed its chairman Heiner Kappel a short time later and has since strived for an alliance with the NPD. In contrast, the DSU subsequently cooperated with the Rule of Law Offensive party . The Hamburg regional executive committee of the REP dissolved at the beginning of 2005 and joined the NPD with most of the other members of the regional association.

In the 2005 Bundestag election , the Republicans maintained their 2002 result with 0.6% and thus overcame the 0.5 percent hurdle for state party funding (formerly election campaign reimbursement ). On the other hand, for the first time they were quite clearly behind the NPD.

The party's increasing unsuccessfulness has intensified especially since the alliance between DVU and NPD, the Germany Pact, agreed in 2004 . This brought more and more members into opposition to the moderate course of the federal chairman Rolf Schlierer, who - like most board members - continued to insist on a demarcation from both parties and therefore strictly rejected the offer of both parties to join the pact. For this reason, among other things, the number of members fell from 20,000 in 1994 to 5,500 in 2007. Nevertheless, Schlierer succeeded in asserting himself against his challenger Björn Clemens , who sought to open up to the right at the federal party conference at the end of 2006 . At the turn of the year 2006/2007, several party officials turned their backs, including the chairmen of the regional associations in Berlin, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

The downward trend in elections also continued. Although the Republicans succeeded in 2008 in Hesse and Bavaria with 1.0% and 1.4% respectively, overcoming the one-percent hurdle, which is important for party financing, on the other hand, the results in both countries were the historical low of the party in the state elections there. In the early elections in Hesse at the beginning of 2009 , this low was undercut again; in the 2009 European elections , for the first time, they no longer became the strongest party among the parties not represented in the European Parliament. Three months later they fell in the federal election with 0.4%, their lowest result in nationwide elections to date, and for the first time missed the 0.5 percent hurdle for state party funding at the federal level .

In the period that followed, there were internal party discussions about working with the right-wing extremist citizens' movement pro NRW in North Rhine-Westphalia. After Schlierer refused it at first, followed by the modest performance of his party in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2010 (0.3%) a U-turn, as per NRW with 1.4% in Selbiger significantly outperformed. In October 2010 he performed at an event organized by Pro with its chairman Markus Beisicht . Meanwhile, the Federation of Republicans announced that it wanted to “continue and deepen” the cooperation.

The subsequent elections were even worse for the Republicans. In the state elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2011 , with 1.1% of the votes, they just achieved the share necessary for party financing; In Bavaria, they narrowly failed to do so in 2013 with 0.996%. The 2013 federal election only brought 0.2% and the 2014 European elections another significant loss. The entry into parliament was narrowly missed by 0.4% despite the removal of all blocking hurdles, and according to this result, the party is also not entitled to reimbursement of campaign costs from this election.

Since 2014

In 2014 Schlierer did not run after almost 20 years in office; His successor was the Bavarian state chairman Johann Gärtner , who held both offices in personal union. This did not result in a U-turn in terms of voting rights; In 2016 , they only achieved 0.3% of the vote in Baden-Württemberg despite the fact that they were electoral across the board. The AfD , which is based in the same political spectrum , received 15.1%, which is the first time that it entered the state parliament. As a result, for the first time since 1986, Republicans were no longer entitled to state party funding.

Gärtner did not run for the 2016 federal party conference. The new chairman was the 26-year-old student Kevin Krieger . Although the only candidate, he was only elected in the second ballot. The party decided not to run in the 2017 federal election for the first time since 1987 and instead to focus on the 2019 European elections . In the end, she did not take part in this. On March 9, 2019, Krieger was replaced by Michael Felgenheuer as the new federal chairman. Tilo Schöne has been the new chairman since he left .

Before the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia in 2019 , people from the right or right-wing extremist spectrum advertised the Republicans. The Republicans were unable to collect enough support signatures for either election.

Since the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2017, in which it received 0.1% of the vote, the party has not run for any national elections.

Political activity

Parliamentary activity in general

The Republicans have been elected to a state parliament three times (twice in Baden-Württemberg, once in Berlin). You have not yet been involved in a government at any political level (compare Political System of Germany ) .

The Republicans were and are represented in various local parliaments in Germany.

Baden-Württemberg

In the state elections in Baden-Württemberg in 1992 , the Republicans of Baden-Württemberg received 10.9% of the vote and entered parliament with 15  members . In the 1996 election , they succeeded in re-entering a state parliament for the first and so far last time with 9.1% of the vote (14 members). In the 2001 state election , the Republicans failed with 4.4% of the 5 percent hurdle.

Berlin

In the election on January 29, 1989 , the Republicans of Berlin managed to get into the Berlin House of Representatives with 7.5% (11 members). In the next election at the end of 1990 , the REP failed with 3.7% in West Berlin and 1.9% in East Berlin because of the five percent hurdle. In the meantime (around the end of 1989) three of the MPs had left the REP.

The time in the House of Representatives was shaped internally by power struggles between the state chairman Bernhard Andres and Carsten Pagel . Andres had offered Pagel to take over the chairmanship of the parliamentary group, but Pagel refused. In the election of the state chairman in mid-1989, the incumbent narrowly prevailed against Pagel. After his election, he initiated a process of elimination against the faction treasurer Kendzia, for which he found little support in the party and faction. After it became known that the public prosecutor was investigating Andres and Kendzia again publicly accused him of financial irregularities, he was dismissed on September 10, 1989 by the then Federal Chairman Schönhuber . Shortly thereafter, Andres resigned from the party and parliamentary group and founded The German Democrats . MPs Göllner and Rieger also left the parliamentary group during the legislative period .

Bremen

The republicans in the state of Bremen were unsuccessful in citizenship elections and were only able to achieve occasional mandates in various municipal councils in the city districts . Nevertheless, from 1985 to 1987 they were represented in the Bremen citizenship as a group with three MPs, after three CDU MPs transferred to the REP in the 11th electoral term . In addition, several Bremerhaven city ​​councilors stepped over. In 2003 and 2007 the Republicans were able to win individual seats on the Walle and Gröpelingen advisory boards .

European Parliament

After the election of June 18, 1989 , the REP moved into the European Parliament with 7.1% of the votes cast in the Federal Republic of Germany . Five years later , however, they missed the 5 percent hurdle here with 3.9%. In the meantime, all MPs except Franz Schönhuber had resigned or been expelled from the party.

Together with the 10 MPs from the Front National and one from the Vlaams Blok , the REP formed the Technical Group of the European Right . In the previous negotiations there had been disputes because FN boss Jean-Marie Le Pen also wanted to win the Italian MSI for the group. The Republicans refused, on the one hand out of concern that they would be discredited by rapprochement with the then openly fascist MSI, on the other hand because of differences in the South Tyrol issue. Ultimately, the MSI decided not to cooperate. Schönhuber became vice-chairman of the parliamentary group.

On December 10, 1990, Schönhuber left the parliamentary group. Around the same time he expelled Harald Neubauer and Johanna Grund from the Republicans and accused them of right-wing extremist and anti-Semitic views. Grund and Neubauer initially remained in the parliamentary group, but left it in May 1991.

Against the remaining MPs Klaus-Peter Köhler , Emil Schlee and Hans-Günter Schodruch , Schönhuber also initiated party exclusion proceedings, which they anticipated by leaving in the spring of 1991. Schlee left the parliamentary group on April 23, 1991, to which only Schodruch as vice chairman and Köhler belonged after the resignations of Schönhuber, Neubauer and Grund. Schönhuber, meanwhile the only REP member in parliament, made public disdain for his former colleagues and above all criticized their lack of work and presence. In general, the REP MPs rarely took part in committee meetings, Schönhuber himself only in about 25 of the 101 meetings of the Political Affairs Committee . They appeared more often as speakers in the plenary, in particular Schönhuber used the parliament for some speeches.

Bundestag

In federal elections, the Republicans were unable to win seats. Nevertheless, the party was represented by individual members of the Bundestag through party converts .

• Franz Handlos (elected as a CSU candidate, non-attached from July 8, 1983 , member of the REP until 1985)
• Ekkehard Voigt (elected as a CSU candidate, non-attached from October 28, 1983, member of the REP until 1985)
• Rudolf Karl Krause (elected for the CDU, non-attached from May 25, 1993, member of the REP from July 1993)

In addition, in the Bundestag elections in 1994 and 1998, the REP were the strongest of the parties that failed to make it into the Bundestag.

Parliamentary activity at local level

In mid-2005, the party had 180 elected officials in 95 cities and districts. The Republicans held municipal mandates primarily in Bavaria , Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia . Their strongholds were the Franconian region of Baden-Württemberg , the Neckar - Enz region, the northern part of the Karlsruhe district , the Stuttgart region - especially the Esslingen district -, the Vorderpfalz - especially Germersheim and Ludwigshafen am Rhein -, Pirmasens , the areas along the Maines , the Ruhr area , the Allgäu as well as Lower and Upper Bavaria (excluding Munich).

Another stronghold was Chemnitz , where the Republicans won 10.3% of the vote in the 2004 local elections in an alliance with the DSU and the DP . The parliamentary group resigned from the party in 2009 and founded the Pro Chemnitz citizens' movement , which ran as Pro Chemnitz / DSU in the 2009 local elections. The Republicans stopped running. In northern Germany and especially in Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, the party has little support. In the new federal states, with the exception of Saxony and Thuringia, the REPs are as good as not represented. According to several constitutional protection authorities, numerous state and district associations only exist on paper. Party work is done almost exclusively by individuals.

Local Republican committee work was almost always overshadowed by internal disputes. For example, of 136 parliamentary groups that formed in local parliaments in 1990, 63 were divided or completely disintegrated by 1993. To this day, there have been repeated departures and splits.

A sensation caused a stir in 1996 when two members of the Republican MPs represented in the Hamburg-Harburg district assembly fled abroad with their parliamentary group's coffers.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Office for the Protection of the Constitution justified the observation of the party, among other things, with the fact that "cooperation with other right-wing extremists (primarily at the local level)" existed.

In the last local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2014, six Republican candidates were elected to the district councils, city councils and district councils. 4 additional mandates in Duisburg were added through transfers.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the party has had 20 municipal mandates since the local elections in 2009 (including a seat in the Palatinate District Assembly) and 9 local advisory council seats. The Republican parliamentary group in Mainz disbanded on May 30, 2011. Since then, the members of the parliamentary group have been operating under the group name “ Pro Mainz ”. After the municipal elections in 2014 , the party lost its seat in the Palatinate District Parliament again.

In the Hessian local elections in 2011 , the Republicans lost more than half of their votes and only had 23 municipal mandates and 4 local council seats. In the local elections in Hesse in 2016 , there were only four seats.

In its home state Bavaria, the party still has five mandates after the 2020 local elections : three in the district of Dillingen an der Donau (one each in the district council, under the name "Bürgerinitiative Wertingen" in the city of Wertingen and in the community of Syrgenstein ), one in the City of Rosenheim and one in the city of Forchheim .

Extra-parliamentary activity

Where party structures exist outside of parliaments, they can hardly attract attention. Press releases appear only sporadically and are practically nowhere printed; larger events only take place before elections and nowhere near as much attention as they did in the 1990s.

In some places local party members are trying to organize rallies based on the marches of right-wing populist, Islamophobic and xenophobic Pegida , for example in Brandenburg an der Havel in January 2015 the alliance BraMM - Brandenburger for Freedom of Expression and Codetermination was initiated, which registered corresponding demonstrations.

Social composition

Republican party members come predominantly from the conservative, right-wing camp. As with the founding of the party, these are mostly former CDU / CSU voters whose policies were no longer “right-wing” enough, which is evident from the strongholds, which are predominantly in the affluent southern German states. Their candidates also often include lawyers and the self-employed. In social democratic strongholds such as the Ruhr area, on the other hand, their supporters are mainly recruited from former SPD voters. According to unconfirmed information from the party leadership, at least 1990 many members were police officers and Bundeswehr soldiers .

In its successful phase in 1989, the party was mainly elected by semi-skilled and unskilled workers, farmers and the unemployed. Unlike the NPD in the 1960s, the REP in 1989 appealed to young voters as well as older cohorts. About two-thirds of the REP's voters are male. Voter migration analyzes from the early 1990s consistently show that REP voters came mainly from the CDU / CSU, from non-voters and from the SPD (in that order); after 1990 they went back roughly equally to the SPD and CDU. The Republicans are strong with non-denominational and only formally church members, especially with non -church Catholics .

Recent voter analyzes confirm these tendencies, with the proportion of the socially disadvantaged in the electorate tending to increase. In general, voter analyzes of a comparatively small party are difficult and can only be used with reservations.

Criticism of internal irregularities

There were repeated reports of irregularities within the party. Resigned members reported authoritarian leadership style, undemocratic decision-making, financial embezzlement, personal enrichment and acts of violence against internal party opponents and criminal behavior of some of the leading members. What is striking in the party's history is the high number of splits and dissolution of associations, committees and parliamentary groups. There are also constant reports of trench warfare within the party, mutual expulsions from the party and readmission, some of which are enforced by circumventing formal conditions. There are also reports to this day about arbitrariness and even targeted manipulation of party congresses by appointing delegates according to questionable keys or not even inviting some sub-associations. All of this indicates that at least some party members and decision-makers have a difficult relationship with the rule of law and democratic principles, and so flows into the question of the party's loyalty to the constitution (cf. relationship to right-wing extremism ).

Others

The party does not receive any noteworthy support from industry, in particular no donations . At the beginning of the 1990s, some unions made incompatibility decisions, but in different forms: IG Metall generally does not tolerate members of the REP, the police union reserves the right to expel party officials, the DGB and some individual unions have not made any official decision.

The republicans' press organ has been called the New Republic since April 2009 (formerly: Time for Protest ! , before: The Republicans , before: Republican Anzeiger ). It appears every other month with a circulation of 10,000. Abroad, the REP maintain contacts at various levels with the Front National (France), Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and the FPÖ (Austria).

Relationship to right-wing extremism

The question is repeatedly discussed whether and to what extent the Republicans are to be viewed as right-wing extremists. The political science is agreed that the Republicans some extreme right-wing positions in the political spectrum represented and conservative to far-right party members have and want to attract voters from across the political spectrum.

View of the protection of the constitution and the courts

In the 2006 report on the protection of the Constitution, the Republicans are no longer listed separately in the section entitled “Right-wing extremist parties”, but there are “[i] within the party [...] who pursue or support right-wing extremist goals." for 2006, the Republicans are not treated separately as a right-wing extremist party either, and in a discussion of recent case law also mentions the above-mentioned judgment of the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court . After the re-election of the REP chairman Schlierer in December 2006, he even expects the “extremist wing to break away”.

“With regard to the REP as a whole, there are currently no sufficiently weighty actual indications of efforts against the free democratic basic order, which would make a separate presentation in the 2006 report on the protection of the constitution appear under the heading 'parties'. However, there are still forces within the party that pursue or support right-wing extremist goals. "

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution recognized a certain right-wing extremist potential in the party until 2004 and has been observing it since December 1992. All reports on the protection of the constitution see “ actual indications of right-wing extremist efforts” in parts of the party. According to the 2004 report for the protection of the constitution, “influential groups and officials of the REP made no secret of their opposition to the free democratic basic order”; the "statements of the party [attacked] the core of our constitution". The report admits that “not every party member pursues anti-constitutional goals”.

Again and again the party defends itself against the observation by the constitution protection with legal means. In addition, she repeatedly criticized the relevant authorities in her party newspaper. In the meantime, she has achieved success with her legal strategy: for example, the intelligence agencies in Rhineland-Palatinate and Berlin were temporarily prohibited from observing the REP. In the judgment often quoted by the party, the Berlin Administrative Court stated that there were no “sufficient actual indications of anti-constitutional efforts” by the Republicans. This judgment was confirmed in the final instance by the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court . Accordingly, the inclusion of the Republicans in the Berlin Constitutional Protection Report in 1997 was illegal. The State of Berlin had already waived an intelligence service observation of the REP since 1999.

Other bans have been lifted again, for example in Rhineland-Palatinate by the local Higher Administrative Court on September 10, 1999. On May 26, 2000, the Stuttgart Administrative Court also dismissed the party's action against the intelligence service's observation. Furthermore, the party's actions before the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , which were preceded by corresponding measures by the Federal Administrative Court, failed. In contrast to the judgments mentioned above, these decisions confirmed indications of the existence of anti-constitutional tendencies among the Republicans.

Controversial claims and statements by Republicans

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The Republicans themselves distance themselves from right-wing extremism and in particular from the DVU and NPD parties as well as from free comradeships, but these distances have not been consistently maintained so far (see story ). The controversial goals of the Republicans include, above all, the abolition of the right to asylum, the abolition of the criminal liability for sedition and the immediate deportation of foreigners who have committed criminal offenses. According to the current legal opinion, deportation without the right to object to the rule of law violates the Basic Law.

Your program is nationally conservative and largely uses non-discriminatory and non-racist language. However, in many points it emphasizes a problem that is related to immigration, and continuously demands tougher action against alleged “mass immigration”, “foreign infiltration” and “foreign crime”. In the opinion of observers, it evokes a general threat from foreigners, arouses and uses xenophobic resentments.

German history takes up a lot of space in the party program. Older party programs spoke in this context of "re-education" by the victorious powers and of an allegedly necessary "decriminalization of German history"; today's program sees a monopoly of opinion here by a few “corporations” and “established parties”. These representations of the REP are subject to criticism of their proximity to historical revisionism and right-wing extremist, including anti-Semitic conspiracy theories . In the demand for equal treatment of victims of the GDR on the one hand and victims of National Socialism on the other hand, a relativization of National Socialist crimes can be seen. Some party members also demand a “ Germany within the borders of 1937 ”.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution interprets the “blanket disparagement of the 'established parties'” by the REP as a criticism of the multi-party system and as a targeted “defamation of the democratic constitutional state, its institutions and representatives” with the aim of “increasing the trust of the population in its functioning [...] to shake ”.

A number of other REP demands are interpreted by critics in such a way that they appear to be acceptable to the outside world, but pursue hidden goals and thus covertly address right-wing extremist target groups. For example, the required reduction in the number of federal states could be seen as a tendency towards the national central state without federal power control. The party's European political views (see program), if they were consistently maintained, would have to lead to the demand for an exit from the EU.

In general, critics continued, statements by the party often contained formulations that can be deciphered appropriately in the right-wing extremist milieu . This use of ambiguities and a kind of code was deliberately chosen by the party in order to make criticism more difficult and, in particular, to withdraw legitimation from observation by the protection of the constitution .

In speeches and articles by leading REP politicians, especially in election campaigns, xenophobic standpoints and slogans appear again and again. For example: “Criminal foreigners out!”, “German interests first!”, “Work for Wojciech - Hartz IV for Germans?”, “The boat is full” or “Gold teeth for asylum seekers, tooth gaps for Germans? - Not with us!"

Like the DVU and NPD, Republicans regularly take a stand on politicians who are or have been accused of deliberately making extremely right-wing, xenophobic, or anti-Semitic statements. In 1994 they spoke out in favor of Steffen Heitmann , who, as an initial CDU candidate for the office of Federal President, failed due to controversial statements; In connection with the anti-Semitism debate, they spoke of an “unprecedented hunt against Jürgen Möllemann ”, and in the case of Martin Hohmann it was said: “Those conservatives who have so far held out in the CDU will be trampled”.

Relationship to right-wing extremist parties and associations

In the past, there have been significant disputes within the party about the position of the REP in relation to the DVU and NPD, which are generally regarded as right-wing extremist parties (see the whole of the following section on history ). The former federal chairman Schlierer advocated a strict line of demarcation. The fact that the vast majority of the then members represented his position can be assumed from his re-elections.

An important document in this regard is the so-called Ruhstorf delimitation decision, which was passed at the federal party conference in Ruhstorf on July 8, 1990 and has the following wording:

“Nobody who has played an active role in extremist and anti-constitutional organizations (e.g. NPD, DVU, EAP , ANF, Wiking-Jugend etc.) is allowed to assume a function in our party in the future. There is no need for a replacement tribunal to comply with this resolution; the federal board is responsible for this. "

- Ruhstorfer delimitation decision

The reason given was that there was “reason to believe that a small group of current Republican functionaries left the NPD or DVU only because of their unsuccessfulness, and then, well camouflaged, sold the old ideology in a new guise. [...] We Republicans categorically reject any cooperation with the NPD or DVU. "

"No party member should be discriminated who belonged to the NPD as a young person, not even a former NPD member who saw his ideas represented in this party at the time, but later credibly turned away and behaved as a Republican in accordance with the program."

The external circumstances of this decision and the allocation of competencies to the federal executive committee indicate that it was primarily a means of the then chairman Schönhuber in the intra-party power struggle of that time. However, the decision has been confirmed again and again by party congresses and the federal executive board and sometimes supplemented with similar resolutions. On the other hand, both chairman Schönhuber and his successor Schlierer met with DVU chairman Gerhard Frey during their term of office to make election agreements. Schönhuber's meeting was used as an opportunity to overthrow him as chairman and expel him from the party; Schlierer's meeting in 1998 had no comparable consequence.

The numerous forms of cooperation with right-wing extremist associations that had actually occurred, which provided the occasion for renewed reaffirmation of the demarcation, were viewed by the party either as an attempt at infiltration by right-wing extremists or as staged by the protection of the constitution (Fall Schaal, 1996).

However, the official moderate course has so far not had any significant success in terms of voter approval or the desired official acceptance as a democratic party. As a result, the party executive received strong internal criticism and the party had to accept many withdrawals.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution therefore doubts that the Schlierer camp on the one hand has the actual will and, on the other hand, the ability to assert itself to distinguish it from right-wing extremism. Particularly in East Germany, individuals and associations of the party repeatedly cooperate with the DVU, NPD and free comradeships . In contrast, especially in its stronghold of Baden-Württemberg , the official image of the party, especially in the 1990s, was rather bourgeois- conservative .

In the 2014 European elections , the Republicans supported Marine Le Pen as the top candidate for the European Commission .

State election results

	BW	BY	BE	BR	HB	HH	HE	MV	NI	NW	RP	SL	SN	ST	SH	TH
1986		3.0%				n / A			n / A
1987					1.2%	n / A	n / A				n / A				n / A
1988	1.0%														0.6%
1989			7.5%
1990		4.9%	3.1%	1.1%				0.9%	1.5%	1.8%		3.4%	n / A	0.6%		0.8%
1991					1.5%	1.2%	1.7%				2.0%
1992	10.9%														1.2%
1993						4.8%
1994		3.9%		1.1%				1.0%	3.7%			1.4%	1.3%	1.4%		1.3%
1995			2.6%		0.3%		2.0%			0.8%
1996	9.1%										3.5%				n / A
1997						1.8%
1998		3.6%						0.5%	2.8%					0.7%
1999			2.7%	n / A	n / A		2.7%					1.3%	1.5%			0.8%
2000										1.1%					n / A
2001	4.4%		1.3%			0.1%					2.4%
2002								0.3%						n / A
2003		2.2%			n / A		1.3%		0.4%
2004				n / A		n / A						n / A	n / A			2.0%
2005										0.8%					n / A
2006	2.5%		0.9%					n / A			1.7%			0.5%
2007					0.5%
2008		1.4%				n / A	1.0%		n / A
2009				0.2%			0.6%					n / A	0.2%		n / A	0.4%
2010										0.3%
2011	1.1%		n / A		n / A	n / A		0.1%			0.8%			n / A
2012										n / A		n / A			n / A
2013		1.0%					0.3%		n / A
2014				0.2%									n / A			0.2%
2015					n / A	n / A
2016	0.3%		n / A					n / A			0.2%			n / A
2017									n / A	0.1%		n / A			n / A
2018		n / A					n / A
2019				n / A	n / A								n / A			n / A
2020						n / A

	Entry into the state parliament
	highest result in the other federal states (without moving into the state parliament)
n / A	not started

Bundestag election results

Bundestag election results

since 1990

8th%

6%

4%

2%

0%

90

94

98

02

05

09

13

Bundestag election results

year	Country lists	Number of votes	Share of votes
1987	not started
1990	16	987.269	2.1%
1994	16	875.239	1.9%
1998	16	906.383	1.8%
2002	14th	280,671	0.6%
2005	09	266.101	0.6%
2009	11	193,396	0.4%
2013	10	091.193	0.2%
2017	not started

European election results

European election results

since 1989

8th%

6%

4%

2%

0%

89

94

99

04

09

14th

European election results

year	Number of votes	Share of votes	Seats
1984	not started
1989	2,008,629	7.1%	6th
1994	1,387,070	3.9%	-
1999	0.461.038	1.7%	-
2004	0.485,662	1.9%	-
2009	0.347,887	1.3%	-
2014	0.109,856	0.4%	-
2019	not started

Federal Chairperson

Period	Surname
1983-1985	Franz Handlos
1985-1994	Franz Schönhuber
1994-2014	Rolf Schlierer
2014-2016	Johann gardener
2016-2019	Kevin Krieger
2019	Michael Felgenheuer
2019–	Tilo Schöne

Spin-offs

Freedom People's Party

→ Main article : Freedom People's Party

After the resignation of the former chairman Handlos, he founded the Freedom People's Party (FVP). According to its own statements, the party had 5,000 members in 1987, but was unsuccessful in elections.

Democratic Republicans of Germany

At the end of 1989, the chairman of the Lower Saxony regional association, Norbert Margraf, called for the overthrow of party chairman Schönhuber. Margraf was then deposed. Finally, a group around Margraf founded the Democratic Republicans of Germany (DRD). Eberhard Klas became chairman. The DRD ran for the state elections in Lower Saxony in 1990 and received 0.06% of the vote.

Federation of German Democrats

The Association of German Democrats (short name: DDD) was founded in 1989 under the name Die Deutschen Demokrats by the former Berlin REP state chairman Bernhard Andres . When it was founded, it was represented by three members of the Berlin House of Representatives. The DDD took part in the state elections in Lower Saxony in 1990 and received 0.03% of the vote. In the election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1990 , he received 0.07% of the vote. For the 1990 Bundestag election, which took place at the same time , he only ran in Berlin and received 0.002% of the vote.

German League for People and Homeland

→ Main article : German League for People and Homeland

The German League for People and Homeland was founded in 1991 under the name German Alliance - United Rights by the Bavarian REP state chairman and European parliamentarian Harald Neubauer and the former Berlin REP member Rudolf Kendzia with the participation of supporters of the recently voted NPD chairman Martin Mußgnug as Right-wing rallying movement founded. In 1996 the DLVH turned into an association. The Pro-Movement emerged from the Cologne branch of the Citizens' Movement Pro Cologne .

Other minor spin-offs

• Bremen Republican Party; founded in 1988 by Lutz Hambusch
• Liberal Republicans Saar; founded by Hans-Helmuth Keßler

See also

• Political parties in Germany

literature

Current literature

• Harald Bergsdorf : unequal siblings. The German Republicans (REP) compared to the French Front National (FN). Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2000, ISBN 3-631-36824-0 (parallel investigation of the parties mentioned).
• Carmen Everts: Political Extremism. Theory and analysis using the example of the parties REP and PDS . Weißensee-Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-934479-24-3 .
• Ralf Grünke: Hallowed Means? How the CDU / CSU and SPD deal with the republicans (= extremism and democracy . Vol. 14). Nomos, Baden-Baden 2006, ISBN 3-8329-2045-5 .
• Peter Guggemos: Political Attitudes of Republican Voters: The Party's Supply and Political Demand. Ergon, Würzburg 2000, ISBN 3-933563-15-1 .
• Ludger Klein, Bernd Simon: 'Doing it for Germany'. A study of The Republicans and Young Freedom . In: Bert Klandermans, Nonna Mayer (Ed.): Extreme Right Activists in Europe: Through the Magnifying Glass . Routledge, New York et al. a. 2006, ISBN 0-415-35827-2 , pp. 151-171.
• Andreas Morgenstern: Extremist and Radical Parties 1990–2005. DVU, REP, DKP and PDS in comparison . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-86573-188-3 .
• Britta Obszerninks: Neighbors on the right edge: Republicans and Freedom Party of Austria in comparison. Agenda, Münster 1999, ISBN 3-89688-036-5 (comparative presentation of the parties mentioned; dissertation at the WWU Münster).
• Stephan Thomczyk: The third attempt at political establishment by the Republicans after 1994. Hartung-Gorre, Konstanz 2001, ISBN 3-89649-667-0 .

Older literature

• Hajo Funke : Republicans. Racism, hostility towards Jews, national megalomania. Action Reconciliation / Peace Services , Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-89246-015-9 .
• Udo Grätz: The inner workings of the republicans - organization, program and leadership struggles of a right-wing extremist party (dissertation at the University of Bochum, 1993).
• Hans-Gerd Jaschke : The Republicans. Profiles of a far-right party. Dietz, Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-8012-0156-2 (critical discussion from a rather social democratic point of view).
• Claus Leggewie (ed.): The Republicans. A phantom takes shape. Rotbuch, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-88022-011-5 (collection of reports).
• Bernhard Schelenz: The political usage of the Republicans. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-631-44801-5 (linguistic analysis of the programs 1987 and 1990 as well as other texts of the REP).
• Michael Schomers : Germany on the far right: Seven months as a republican in FRG & GDR. Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-462-02026-9 (in the style of Günter Wallraff , from whom the foreword comes; the author was primarily active in the REP district association in Cologne; emphasizes links to right-wing extremists on the one hand and the CDU on the other).
• Richard Stöss: The Republicans: where they come from; what you want; who chooses them; what to do. Bund, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-7663-2198-6 .
• Bernd Neubacher: The Republicans in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament - from a right-wing extremist to a right-wing radical, established party? Dissertation (PDF; 1.4 MB) doi: 10.18419 / opus-5444

Web links

• The Republicans
• bundeswahlleiter.de Overview of the board members, statutes, program (as of July 6, 2011; PDF; 1.2 MB)
• Andreas Morgenstern: The Republicans (REP) . In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria

Individual evidence

1. ^ Annual report of the parties for 2014 . (PDF; 75.8 MB) Part 2: Other eligible parties . Bundestag printed paper 18/8475, p. 269
2. ↑ Blue in the twilight . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1992 ( online ).
3. ↑ District Association Berchtesgaden ( Memento from February 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Die Republikaner.
4. ^ Federal statutes of the party ( Memento from August 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) The Republicans.
5. ^ The Republicans , Federal Agency for Civic Education .
6. ^ The Republicans, Party's website.
7. ↑ cf. for example Schelenz 1992.
8. ↑ www.rep.de ( Memento from August 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
10. ^ Republicans Through The Rust Der Spiegel October 30, 1989
11. ↑ BVerwG, judgment of February 12, 1998 , Az. 3 C 55/96, full text; BVerwGE 106, 177
12. ↑ BVerwG, Press Release No. 4/1998 ( Memento of March 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) of February 12, 1998.
13. ↑ http://www.fichte-stiftung.de/html/wir_uber_uns.html ( Memento from February 10, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
14. ^ The Republicans ( Memento of January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB), The Federal Returning Officer.
15. ↑ Overview of the board members, statutes and program of the Republicans ( Memento of January 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.2 MB)
16. ↑ Election results at www.wahlrecht.de
17. ↑ Overview of the elections since 1946 on wahl.tagesschau.de. (Old versions: Landtag elections and Federal Council - stat.tagesschau.de ( Memento from August 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ))
18. ↑ State results of the federal election 2013 ( Memento from September 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
19. ^ Landesverband Baden-Württemberg ( Memento from December 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
20. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), New Republic, Party newspaper of the Republicans; Page 2.
21. ↑ Untitled document. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
22. ↑ Local elections in Bavaria ( Memento from February 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ rep.de
25. ^ Landesverband Brandenburg ( Memento from September 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
26. ^ Landesverband Bremen , Die Republikaner.
27. ^ Distribution of seats in the citizenship of Bremen .
28. ↑ rep-hamburg.de ( Memento from February 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
29. ^ ^{A b} Landesverband Hamburg ( Memento from May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
30. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
31. ↑ 13 seats in city councils and district assemblies, as well as 3 seats in Frankfurt local councils [1] [2] 4 seats in city council elections in independent cities and district elections, source: Hessisches statisches Landesamt: preliminary result of local elections on March 6, 2016. State of Hessen Another 11 mandates in the municipal elections in the city of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (1 mandate), Ebersburg (1 mandate), City of Fulda (4 mandates), City of Hanau (5 mandates), Source: Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt: Preliminary results of the municipal election on March 6, 2016 in the Hessian communities
32. ↑ Local elections 2016 in Hesse. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
33. ↑ ^{a b} Landesverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ( Memento from February 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
34. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
35. ↑ rep.de , Republicans.
36. ↑ rep.de , Republicans.
37. ↑ REP. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
38. ↑ ^{a b} Landesverband Saarland ( Memento from September 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
39. ↑ rep-sachsen.de ( Memento from May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
40. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
41. ^ Statistics for the State of Saxony .
42. ^ REP regional association Saxony-Anhalt
43. ^ ^{A b} Landesverband Sachsen-Anhalt ( Memento from February 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
44. ↑ rep-schleswig-holstein.de ( Memento from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
45. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
46. ^ Landesverband Schleswig-Holstein ( Memento from October 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner.
47. ↑ Start. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
48. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from 23 August 2015 in the Internet Archive )
49. ↑ Determination of state funds for 2014 (PDF; 689 kB), status March 4, 2015. Accessed April 27, 2015
50. ↑ Republicans in the country are threatened with death after the crash. Trierischer Volksfreund , August 7, 2017; accessed on February 24, 2018.
51. ↑ spiegel.de: Billion injection for the wall builder
52. ↑ CSU: Inside or outside . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1983 ( online ).
53. ^ "Republicans" in Hamburg dissolve and join the NPD ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), article from January 11, 2005 on hamburg.de
54. ↑ Bernd Neubacher: The Republicans in the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament - from a right-wing extremist to a right-wing radical, established party? (PDF; 1.5 MB), dissertation.
55. ↑ New partnerships on the right edge , taz of October 13, 2010.
56. ↑ bergische-stimme.de
57. ↑ Neo-Nazis get involved with Republicans. www.endstation-rechts.de, September 14, 2018
58. ↑ rep-oberberg.de ( Memento from February 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), Die Republikaner NRW.
59. ↑ REP. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
60. ^ Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz , Die Republikaner.
61. ↑ City council group of the Republicans dissolves - change to “Pro Mainz” ( Memento from June 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz from May 28, 2011.
62. ↑ Amadeu Antonio Foundation : Pegida, quo vadis? Today: Brandenburg www.netz-gegen-nazis.de, May 23, 2016
63. ↑ Republicans register Pegida March.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.morgenpost.de, January 13, 2015  
64. ↑ so Kliche: Why I left the R .; Similar reports from Bergsdorf, Leggewie, Schomers, on internal quarrels, for example link in the article Kerstin Lorenz, cf. also Neubacher (web links) p. 325 f. with further evidence and sources
65. ↑ prominent: Schönhuber's dismissal and reinstatement 1990, exclusion of Grund and Neubauer 1990, dismissal of Käs 2002, linked text in the article Kerstin Lorenz
66. ↑ cf. Link to taz report in the article Ursula Winkelsett, Nov 2004
67. ↑ see also the link in the article Kerstin Lorenz: "Delegates with delegate IDs taken away by the police on instructions from the federal leadership"
68. ↑ The Republicans . Federal Agency for Political Education .
69. ↑ Discussion: The classification of the REP . Federal Agency for Political Education .
70. ↑ ^{a b Report on the} Protection of the Constitution 2006 . ( Memento of August 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) Federal Ministry of the Interior, 2007, p. 52
71. ^ Constitutional Protection Report of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for 2006. Press version. ( Memento from August 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, 2007, pp. 16, 32 ff.
72. ^ Administrative Court of Mainz , December 10, 1997
73. ↑ Administrative Court Berlin , August 31, 1998, Az.VG26 A623.97.
74. ↑ OVG Berlin-Brandenburg, judgment of April 6, 2006 , Az. 3 B 3.99, full text.
75. ↑ OVG Rhineland-Palatinate, judgment of September 10, 1999, Az. 2 A 11774/98.
76. ^ VG Stuttgart, judgment of May 26, 2000, Az. 18 K 5658/98; legally binding by withdrawing the appeal on October 30, 2002.
77. ^ OVG Lüneburg, judgment of October 19, 2000 , Az. 11 L 87/00.
78. ^ OVG North Rhine-Westphalia, decision of December 21, 2000 , Az. 5 A 2256/94, full text.
79. ↑ BVerwG, decision of April 6, 2001 , Az. 6 B 22.01, full text and BVerwG, decision of December 7, 1999 , Az. 1 C 30.97, full text.
80. ↑ According to the author's report 2004: “This includes the fact that the REPs defame foreigners across the board, hold them responsible for social problems and conflicts, and specifically stir up fear of foreign infiltration and social envy directed against foreigners.” In 1993, Jaschke spoke of the “pronounced socio-cultural xenophobia “Address their constituents.
81. ↑ rhein-zeitung.de
82. ↑ Results of the Bundestag elections ( Memento from July 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
83. ↑ Results of the European elections ( Memento of July 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
84. ↑ Brauner Stamm - Eight months before the state election, the Lower Saxony state association of right-wing extremist Republicans is hopelessly divided . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1989 ( online ).
85. ↑ ^{a b c} Wotan's wolves . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1990 ( online ).