About 3,300 people gathered in Dortmund on Sunday to protest a visit by Björn Höcke, a senior figure in the Alternative for Germany (AfD). An even larger demonstration is expected in Düsseldorf on Monday.
Höcke, who leads the AfD in Thuringia and has twice been convicted for using unlawful Nazi rhetoric, was permitted to attend a party event at Dortmund town hall after a local court rejected an attempt by Mayor Alexander Kalouti to bar him from speaking. A 2019 court ruling also said Höcke may legally be described as “a fascist.”
Mayor Kalouti, a member of the conservative CDU, joined demonstrators outside the town hall and said he did not want Höcke in his building. The turnout in Dortmund was more than five times larger than police had anticipated. On the city council the AfD holds 18 seats, the same number as the Greens and fewer than the CDU (23) and the Social Democrats (26).
Over the weekend Höcke and several AfD politicians from western states visited the Externsteine rock formation in the Teutoburg Forest. Police said a planned stop at the Hermannsdenkmal (Hermann Monument) was canceled after roughly 350 protesters gathered on short notice. The Hermann Monument, commemorating Arminius’s victory over Rome in year 9, was exploited for propaganda during the Nazi era and remains a site of interest for some right-wing extremists.
In Düsseldorf, Höcke is scheduled to speak in the Garath district, where the AfD won 32% in last autumn’s local elections. Organizers expect more than 5,000 people to attend a protest under slogans such as “No room for fascists in Düsseldorf” and “Garath is colorful, not brown,” a reference to the brown uniforms associated with the Nazi-era Sturmabteilung.
A broad coalition of civic groups plans to join 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.