Members of the neo-Nazi party the Third Path were stopped over the weekend attempting to turn themselves into an anti-migrant border patrol. Who is the small but very active extremist group?
The Third Path extremists are strong in Germany's far eastern regions
FORMER STALINIST EAST GERMANY
The small German neo-Nazi party the Third Path, which numbers just a few hundred members, attracted international attention this weekend when it rallied people to the German-Polish border in the state of Brandenburg in an attempt to stop migrants entering the country.
Police seized a number of weapons from the more than 50 people it stopped — including pepper spray, batons, a machete and a bayonet — and ordered them to clear the border area.
Foundation and membership
The Third Path was founded in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg in September 2013 as a splinter of the far-right nationalist National Democratic Party (NPD).The party's founder and national leader is Klaus Armstroff, a former NPD official who fell out with the party over its ideological direction.
Armstroff is reported to have actively recruited members from a neo-Nazi group known as Freies Netz Süd (Free Network South), which was active in Bavaria before being banned in 2014. Armstroff is considered well-connected, with ties to neo-Nazi groups outside the political system.
Counter-demonstration: Antifa protesters held a vigil against the ultra-right Third Path vigilantes in Guben this weekend
In its latest report, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), says the party has only 600 members across Germany, but this is deliberate: the Third Path considers itself a small hardcore unit that has less interest in expanding membership than engaging in political activism.
Nazi ideology
The Third Path derives its name from the so-called "Third Way" in German politics. As the party's first point on its ten-point program puts it: "The aim of the party Der Dritte Weg is the creation of a German socialism far away from exploitative capitalism as well as egalitarian communism."
The party is considered affiliated with the "left-wing" branch of historical Nazi ideology and is in favor of nationalizing all of Germany's key industries, as well as its public services and social welfare, banks, and major companies.
But its brand of socialism is decidedly nationalist and racist in tone, close to the aims of Adolf Hitler's original Nazi party: Its program includes "the rigorous funding of families with many children to prevent an imminent extinction of the German people," and "the preservation and development of the biological substance of the German people."
Moreover, the Third Path openly questions the legitimacy of Germany's post-war borders, demanding "the peaceful restoration of Greater Germany with its original borders."
Strategy and methods
In its latest report, the BfV has noted an increasing professionalization in the Third Path over the last few years. In 2019, the party realigned its structures to suit German electoral rules, helping to make it eligible to run in both national and regional elections. The BfV says the party has around 20 bases across Germany and is most politically active in seven of Germany's 16 states, including Brandenburg — where the vigilante activities were stopped — Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
During Germany's recent 2021 federal election campaign, the Third Path was prosecuted for putting up posters emblazoned with the slogan "Hang the Greens" in Munich and Saxony. German courts eventually decided the posters did in fact break the law and had to be taken down.
The party says it has divided its activities into three "struggles": The "political struggle," "the cultural struggle" and the "struggle for the community." The political struggle includes electioneering and the cultural struggle is defined as "the preservation of customs."
The struggle for the community involves a number of charitable efforts, including help for the homeless (though only those considered German) and organizing local sports activities, especially martial arts.
The Third Path also took part in a number of demonstrations against the German government's coronavirus lockdown measures and spread theories downplaying the pandemic on its website. In one article posted on its website in 2020, the Third Path claimed the pandemic was being exploited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the European Central Bank (ECB) to accelerate the abolition of cash, and claiming that ECB head Christine Lagarde had Jewish roots. The BfV describes the Third Path as antisemitic and racist.
Not unlike its calls to vigilante groups in Brandenburg, the BfV also noted that in 2020 the Third Path assembled "national patrols" in German towns, supposedly to protect German people from foreign criminals, on the grounds that "the German people have been declared free game."
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year's elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.
The small German neo-Nazi party the Third Path, which numbers just a few hundred members, attracted international attention this weekend when it rallied people to the German-Polish border in the state of Brandenburg in an attempt to stop migrants entering the country.
Police seized a number of weapons from the more than 50 people it stopped — including pepper spray, batons, a machete and a bayonet — and ordered them to clear the border area.
Foundation and membership
The Third Path was founded in the southwestern German city of Heidelberg in September 2013 as a splinter of the far-right nationalist National Democratic Party (NPD).The party's founder and national leader is Klaus Armstroff, a former NPD official who fell out with the party over its ideological direction.
Armstroff is reported to have actively recruited members from a neo-Nazi group known as Freies Netz Süd (Free Network South), which was active in Bavaria before being banned in 2014. Armstroff is considered well-connected, with ties to neo-Nazi groups outside the political system.
Counter-demonstration: Antifa protesters held a vigil against the ultra-right Third Path vigilantes in Guben this weekend
In its latest report, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), says the party has only 600 members across Germany, but this is deliberate: the Third Path considers itself a small hardcore unit that has less interest in expanding membership than engaging in political activism.
Nazi ideology
The Third Path derives its name from the so-called "Third Way" in German politics. As the party's first point on its ten-point program puts it: "The aim of the party Der Dritte Weg is the creation of a German socialism far away from exploitative capitalism as well as egalitarian communism."
The party is considered affiliated with the "left-wing" branch of historical Nazi ideology and is in favor of nationalizing all of Germany's key industries, as well as its public services and social welfare, banks, and major companies.
But its brand of socialism is decidedly nationalist and racist in tone, close to the aims of Adolf Hitler's original Nazi party: Its program includes "the rigorous funding of families with many children to prevent an imminent extinction of the German people," and "the preservation and development of the biological substance of the German people."
Moreover, the Third Path openly questions the legitimacy of Germany's post-war borders, demanding "the peaceful restoration of Greater Germany with its original borders."
Strategy and methods
In its latest report, the BfV has noted an increasing professionalization in the Third Path over the last few years. In 2019, the party realigned its structures to suit German electoral rules, helping to make it eligible to run in both national and regional elections. The BfV says the party has around 20 bases across Germany and is most politically active in seven of Germany's 16 states, including Brandenburg — where the vigilante activities were stopped — Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
During Germany's recent 2021 federal election campaign, the Third Path was prosecuted for putting up posters emblazoned with the slogan "Hang the Greens" in Munich and Saxony. German courts eventually decided the posters did in fact break the law and had to be taken down.
The party says it has divided its activities into three "struggles": The "political struggle," "the cultural struggle" and the "struggle for the community." The political struggle includes electioneering and the cultural struggle is defined as "the preservation of customs."
The struggle for the community involves a number of charitable efforts, including help for the homeless (though only those considered German) and organizing local sports activities, especially martial arts.
The Third Path also took part in a number of demonstrations against the German government's coronavirus lockdown measures and spread theories downplaying the pandemic on its website. In one article posted on its website in 2020, the Third Path claimed the pandemic was being exploited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the European Central Bank (ECB) to accelerate the abolition of cash, and claiming that ECB head Christine Lagarde had Jewish roots. The BfV describes the Third Path as antisemitic and racist.
Not unlike its calls to vigilante groups in Brandenburg, the BfV also noted that in 2020 the Third Path assembled "national patrols" in German towns, supposedly to protect German people from foreign criminals, on the grounds that "the German people have been declared free game."
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year's elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.
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