The Homeland Die Heimat | |
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Party Chairman | Frank Franz[1] |
Founder |
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Founded | 28 November 1964 |
Merger of | |
Headquarters | Carl-Arthur-Bühring-Haus, Seelenbinderstrasse 42, 12555 Berlin |
Newspaper | Deutsche Stimme |
Youth wing | Junge Nationalisten[5] |
Membership | ![]() |
Ideology | |
Political position | Far-right[10] |
European affiliation | Alliance for Peace and Freedom |
European Parliament group | Non-Inscrits |
Colors |
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Slogan | Die soziale Heimatpartei ('The Social Homeland Party') |
Bundestag | 0 / 736 |
Bundesrat | 0 / 69 |
State Parliaments | 0 / 1,897 |
European Parliament | 0 / 96 |
Heads of State Governments | 0 / 16 |
Website | |
die-heimat.de | |
The Homeland (German: Die Heimat), previously known as the National Democratic Party of Germany (German: Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD), is a far-right[10] Neo-Nazi[7][8] and ultranationalist[8] political party in Germany.
The party was founded in 1964 as successor to the German Reich Party (German: Deutsche Reichspartei, DRP). Party statements also self-identified the party as Germany's "only significant patriotic force" (2012).[12] On 1 January 2011, the nationalist German People's Union merged with the NPD and the party name of the National Democratic Party of Germany was extended by the addition of "The People's Union".[13]
As a neo-Nazi organization,[7][8] it has been referred to as "the most significant neo-Nazi party to emerge after 1945".[14] The German Federal Agency for Civic Education, or BPB, has criticized the NPD for working with members of organizations which were later found unconstitutional by the federal courts and disbanded,[15][16] while the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic security agency, classifies The Homeland as a "threat to the constitutional order" because of its platform and ideology, and it is under their observation.[17] An effort to outlaw the party failed in 2003, as the government had many informers and agents in the party, some in high position, who had written part of the material used against them.[18] Since its founding in 1964, the party has never managed to win enough votes on the federal level to cross Germany's 5% minimum threshold for representation in the Bundestag; it has succeeded in crossing the 5% threshold and gaining representation in state parliaments 11 times, including one-convocation entry to seven West German state parliaments between November 1966 and April 1968 and two-convocation electoral success in two East German states of Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern between 2004 and 2011.[19] Since 2016, The Homeland has not been represented in state parliaments. Udo Voigt led the NPD from 1996 to 2011.[17] He was succeeded by Holger Apfel,[20] who in turn was replaced by Udo Pastörs in December 2013. In November 2014, Pastörs was ousted and Frank Franz became the party's leader. Voigt was elected the party's first Member of the European Parliament in 2014. The party lost the seat in the 2019 European Parliament election. In June 2023, the party renamed itself to Die Heimat after a party vote.[21][22]
On 23 January 2024, the Federal Constitutional Court excluded the party from party funding for six years, as it continued to oppose the fundamental principles that are indispensable for the free democratic constitutional state and aimed to eliminate them.[23]
The neo-Nazi NPD party is entering several German city parliaments for the first time after this weekend's local elections, news magazine Der Spiegel reported on Monday.* "Neonazis in der NPD auf dem Vormarsch" [Neo-Nazis in the NPD on the rise]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
Das neonazistische Spektrum hat seinen Einfluss innerhalb der NPD ausgebaut.[The neo-Nazi spectrum has expanded its influence within the NPD.]* "Verfassungsschutzbericht 2010". German Ministry of the Interior. p. 67. "Die ethnisch homogene „Volksgemeinschaft“ stellt für sie das Kernelement dar. ("The ethnically homogeneous 'national community' represents the core element for them.")
Auch zeigte sich die NPD nun bereit, mit radikalen Kräften aus dem parteiungebundenen Spektrum zusammenzuarbeiten. Formal gilt nach wie vor ein Unvereinbarkeitsbeschluss der NPD-Mitgliedschaft mit der Mitgliedschaft in verbotenen Gruppierungen. Faktisch jedoch setzt sich die NPD mit ihrer Strategie bewusst über die offizielle Verlautbarung hinweg. Die NPD wolle in Zukunft mit denjenigen zusammenzuarbeiten, die dazu bereit seien, 'als politische Soldaten zu denken und zu handeln', so die neue Strategie.
Die Kooperation zwischen der NPD und den Freien Nationalisten (Angehörige von neonazistischen Kameradschaften) prägt das Auftreten der Partei im niedersächsischen Landtagswahlkampf. Bekannte Neonazis treten für die NPD als Direktkandidaten an, z.B. Dennis BÜHRIG in Bergen, Klaus HELLMUND in Celle, Mathias BEHRENS in Soltau oder Dieter RIEFLING in Hildesheim.
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