Thuringian state parliament: AfD member employs ex-NPD man

Icon: enlarge

Thuringian AfD member of the state parliament Laudenbach

Photo: Karina Hessland / imago images

The Thuringian AfD member of the state parliament Dieter Laudenbach employs an employee with contacts in the right-wing extremist scene.

The employee Peter P. is a former NPD member and was connected to the "Thuringian Homeland Security", in whose sphere the right-wing extremist terror cell "National Socialist Underground" (NSU) arose.

The special thing: Laudenbach pays him out of his own pocket, as SPIEGEL learned from the AfD politician's environment.

According to the AfD's incompatibility list, party members must not have belonged to the NPD.

This distance is also recommended for employees of members of parliament.

Responsible for research work

Laudenbach, who almost became the first German AfD mayor two and a half years ago in Gera, confirms P.'s employment, but does not want to comment on contractual details.

The commitment of the ex-NPD is based on his "professional and personal qualifications", says Laudenbach.

P. is responsible for the staffing of the Gera constituency office, for research work and answering citizens' inquiries.

P. sat from 2014 to 2017 for the NPD in the Gera city council.

For years he had co-organized the right-wing rock concert "Rock für Deutschland" and is networked in the Thuringian comradeship scene.

Laudenbach can see no problem in the employment: Since P. is not an AfD member, his past does not play a role.

It is not the only questionable personality in the Thuringian AfD.

The Erfurt state parliamentary group under its chairman Björn Höcke employs Martin S., a man who was active in the Thuringian neo-Nazi scene for years.

Now he is doing public relations work for the AfD parliamentary group.

Icon: The mirror

mrc