Awakening of German Patriots - Central Germany

Awakening of German Patriots - Central Germany
Leader	Benjamin Przybylla
Chairman	Bernhard Wedlich
Founder	André Poggenburg
Founded	January 11, 2019 (2019-01-11)
Split from	Alternative for Germany
Headquarters	Steinweg 18e 01662 Meissen
Ideology	Ethnic nationalism German Nationalism Right wing populism Eurosceptic
Political position	Far-right
Colours	Light blue
Election symbol
Cornflower

Awakening of German Patriots - Central Germany (German: Aufbruch deutscher Patrioten – Mitteldeutschland (AdPM)) is a German political party that splintered from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and was established by André Poggenburg on January 11, 2019, following his forced resignation from AfD in 2018.

Background

In 2018, Poggenburg, the leader of the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch, was reprimanded by AfD leadership for messaging "Germany for Germans" to party members over WhatsApp.^[1] Later that year he resigned from the party after a censure for calling German Turks "camel drivers" and "caraway seed traders" in a speech to party supporters.^[2]

History

Establishment

Following his ousting from the AfD, Poggenburg formed his own political party, the Awakening of German Patriots, unveiling the party to the German public on January 11, 2019, immediately being faced with criticism for including the Cornflower on the party logo. The Cornflower has long been a symbol of German Nationalists, first developed by Georg von Schönerer as a symbol of pan-Germanism it became a symbol of support for the Kaiser and later as a secret symbol of the Nazi party of Austria during the period from 1933 to 1938 when the party was banned; and most recently as the symbol of the Freedom Party of Austria until 2017.^[3][4][5]

Poggenburg announced that the party would follow what had been the AfD's party line from 2017 and prior, before what Poggenburg called a "shift to the left" within the party when it began to expel its more radical members.^[6] Poggenburg stated that the party intended to contest upcoming elections, and could enter regional parliaments.^[7] He also stated that the party intends to be a "middle German movement," with branches in Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.^[4]

In their first election, the May 2019 Saxony local election, the party received only 0.6% of the vote in the Zwickau district and 0.4% of the vote at the Meißen district.^[8] In the September 2019 Saxony state election the party only won 0.2% of the votes cast.

Decline

After the poor performance in the local elections, Poggenburg applied at the August 2019 party congress for the party to dissolve and rejoin the AfD. The vote was rejected and Poggenburg left the party.^[9] The party has staged no public events since spring of 2020 and only has 45 registered members.^[10]

Poggenburg later endorsed the Freie Sachsen (Free Saxons) for the 2024 Saxony state election.^[11]

References

1. "Germany Far-right Party Reprimands Member Over neo-Nazi Slogan". Haaretz. Reuters. Jun 26, 2017. Archived from the original on 29 Mar 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
2. "AfD regional leader Poggenburg resigns". Deutsche Welle. March 8, 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
3. Timsit, Annabelle (January 12, 2019). "A new German far-right party chooses a symbol with a dark past". Quartz. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
4. Robinson, Matthew (January 11, 2019). "Far-right German politician starts a new party with a logo bearing a secret Nazi symbol". CNN. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
5. Huggler, Justin (11 January 2019). "Controversial Alternative for Germany politician forms breakaway group with Nazi cornflower logo". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on Oct 22, 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
6. Le Blond, Josie (11 Jan 2019). "New far-right German party adopts former secret Nazi symbol". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
7. "German far-right leader forms new party with a Nazi symbol". The Times of Israel. AP. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
8. "Wahlergebnisse" [Election results]. wahlen.sachsen.de. Archived from the original on Jun 19, 2019.
9. "Erneute Kehrtwende: Poggenburg tritt aus der ADPM aus". lvz.de. Retrieved 2019-08-12.
10. Thieme, Tom (August 5, 2019). "Aufbruch deutscher Patrioten – Mitteldeutschland (ADPM)". bpb.de. Archived from the original on Jan 29, 2024.
11. "André Poggenburg: "Mit Zweitstimme FREIE SACHSEN wählen!"". Freie Sachsen. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.