Around 3,300 people gathered in Dortmund on Sunday to protest a visit by Björn Höcke, a senior politician from the Alternative for Germany (AfD). An even larger demonstration is expected in Düsseldorf on Monday.
Höcke, who leads the AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia and has twice been convicted for using illegal Nazi rhetoric, was allowed to attend a party event at Dortmund town hall after a local court dismissed an attempt by Mayor Alexander Kalouti to bar him from speaking. A 2019 court ruling found Höcke may legally be described as “a fascist.”
Kalouti, of the conservative CDU, joined protesters outside the town hall, saying he did not want Höcke in his building. The turnout in Dortmund was more than five times the size police had anticipated. On the city council the AfD holds 18 seats, equal with the Greens and behind the CDU (23 seats) and the Social Democrats (26).
Over the weekend Höcke and several western-state AfD politicians visited the Externsteine rock formation in the Teutoburg Forest. Police said a planned visit to the Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann Monument) was canceled because about 350 protesters gathered there at short notice. The Hermann Monument, which marks Arminius’s victory over the Romans in year 9, was used for propaganda in the Nazi era and remains a site of interest for right-wing extremists.
In Düsseldorf, Höcke is due to speak in the Garath district, where the AfD received 32% of the vote in local elections last autumn. Organizers expect more than 5,000 people at a protest under slogans including “No room for fascists in Düsseldorf” and “Garath is colorful, not brown” — a reference to the brown uniforms of the Nazi-era Sturmabteilung.
A wide range of civic groups plan to take part in the Düsseldorf protest, including trade unions, charities, tenants’ associations and Ultras Düsseldorf, the hardcore supporters of Fortuna Düsseldorf. After two local AfD politicians attended a recent Fortuna match and posted photos online, the ultras displayed a banner at the team’s last home game reading: “Whether city or stadium — Höcke and colleagues, f*** off!”
“We want to send a clear message that enemies of democracies like Höcke have no place in Düsseldorf,” said local trade union chief Sigrid Wolf. On Düsseldorf’s city council the AfD holds 10 of 92 seats, making it the fourth-largest party.
Edited by: Sean Sinico