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Free German Workers' Party

Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
Free German Workers' Party Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
Abbreviation	FAP
Leader	Martin Pape (1979–1988); Friedhelm Busse (1988–1995)
Founded	1979
Banned	24 February 1995
Headquarters	Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany
Membership (1987)	500
Ideology	Strasserism; Neo-Nazism
Political position	Far-right
Colors	Red, black and white
Party flag
	Politics of Germany; Political parties; Elections;

The Free German Workers' Party (German: Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; abbreviated FAP) was a neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 1995.

History

The FAP was founded in 1979. However, it was largely insignificant until the banning of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists in 1983 when Michael Kühnen encouraged members to infiltrate this tiny group. A minor party (around 500 members in 1987) it experienced something of a growth after German reunification and sought, unsuccessfully, an alliance with the National Democratic Party.^[1] It contested the 1987 federal election and the 1989 European elections although in both instances it attracted negligible support.^[2]

Associated with Strasserism, the FAP party managed to gain some support amongst football hooligans but was damaged by Kühnen's homosexuality, and took a stand against him. The party continued under Friedhelm Busse from 1989 but it lost a number of members to new groups loyal to Kühnen, including the German Alternative (1989) and the National Offensive (1990).^[4]

The party was outlawed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on 24 February 1995.

References

^ D. Childs, 'The Far Right in Germany Since 1945' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 301
^ Paul Hainsworth, The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA, Pinter, 1992, p. 63
^ Photos show use of this flag in the early 1990s
^ C. T. Husbands, 'Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1990s' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 329