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Artgemeinschaft

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Artgemeinschaft Germanic Faith Community
Artgemeinschaft Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft
AbbreviationAG GGG
LeaderJürgen Rieger (1989–2009)
FounderWilhelm Kusserow
Founded1951
BannedSeptember 2023
NewspaperNordische Zeitung
IdeologyNeo-Nazism
Neo-fascism
Esoteric Nazism
Political positionFar-right
ReligionGermanic Neopaganism
Website
web.archive.org/web/20230831004232/https://asatru.de/ (last archieved version August 2023)

The Artgemeinschaft Germanic Faith Community (German: Artgemeinschaft Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft; abbreviated AG GGG) was a German Neopagan[1] and neo-Nazi[2] organization[3] founded in 1951 by Wilhelm Kusserow, a former member of the SS. In 1983, it merged with the Nordungen (founded in 1924). From 1989 to 2009, it was headed by Jürgen Rieger.[4] In September 2023, the Federal Ministry of the Interior banned the Association.

The group had the legal status of a German registered association (eingetragener Verein) headquartered in Berlin. At the time of the ban AG, GGG had 300 supporters and 40 core members.

Ideology and history

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The Artgemeinschaft was founded in 1951 by former Nazi Wilhelm Kusserow. It was a registered association since 1957 and was based in Berlin. From 1989 until his death in 2009, the group was led by the neo-Nazi lawyer Jürgen Rieger. His successor was Axel Schunk from Stockstadt in Bavaria.[5]

Artgemeinschaft mixed far-right ideology with Nordic and Teutonic religions such as Ásatrú, but also elements of atheism.[6] In the 1960s some theosophic and so-called ariosophic aspects were added.

The group was xenophobic and antisemitic.[6] A belief of the party is Artgemeinschaft (loosely translated as "racial community"), a basic tenet of which is the Artglaube ("racial belief").

In contrast to other pagan organisations, neither Guido von List nor Lanz von Liebenfels plays any role.[7]

Important in their beliefs are theses by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Eduard von Hartmann and Feuerbach in order to attack Christian morality and to replace it with a pagan one. According to Fromm, belief in Gods is not important for the Artgemeinschaft.[7]

One symbol used by Artgemeinschaft is an eagle catching a Christian fish, known as "Adler fängt Fisch" or "Adler fängt Ichthys", which symbolises the rejection of Christianity. It was registered as a trademark for the group in 2003, leading to neo-Nazis in Germany using the symbol afterwards. In 2012, this influenced the decision to reject a new coat of arms for the district of Mecklenburgische Seenplatte.

"Struggle is part of life" is a belief of AG GGG and written in the group's "confession of species" in which the guiding principles are laid down. The "struggle" is "naturally necessary for all becoming, being and passing away", it says. "Every single one of us and our entire species are in this struggle". Instead of the term "race" in the "species community" (Artgemeinschaft) the term "species" (Art) is used.[8]

In September 2023, the police searched the homes of 39 members in twelve federal states. The authorities confiscated the association's assets. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the right-wing extremist group is "against the idea of international understanding" and "against the constitutional order". Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has banned the association. The association's magazine, the völkisch Nordische Zeitung[9] ("Nordic Newspaper"), is also affected by the ban.[8]

The Ministry of the Interior also banned the Familienwerk ("Family Association"), which is affiliated with the Artgemeinschaft. According to the statutes of the "Familienwerk", the association is intended to protect "the interests of young people and their families, with particular consideration of families with many children".[8]

The Artgemeinschaft is one of the toughest structures in the extreme right-wing. It doesn't shut itself off from right-wing terrorism at all. The Artgemeinschaft runs under the label of nature-religiousness and ancestral commemoration. But the Artgemeinschaft is actually one of the most conspiratorial – and I would say – most dangerous structures that we have in Germany.[10]

Andrea Röpke, Right-wing extremism analyst

Members

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Membership was regulated according to racial criteria; only "northern born" people may become members. The members belong to different currents of the far-right, from militant neo-fascists to representatives of the Neue Rechte (New Right).[11] The French theoretician of the New Right Pierre Krebs is member of Artgemeinschaft as well as the right-wing author Claus Nordbruch. Stephan Ernst, the murderer of politician Walter Lübcke was a member of Artgemeinschaft until 2011.[10]

Activities

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The Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Lower Saxony named Artgemeinschaft in connection to right-wing settlement movements in Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg Vorpommern.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Schnurbein, Stefanie von (1993). Göttertrost in Wendezeiten: neugermanisches Heidentum zwischen New Age und Rechtsradikalismus (in German). München: Claudius-Verl. p. 46. ISBN 9783532640036. OCLC 32432264.
  2. ^ Gasper, Hans; Müller, Joachim; Valentin, Friederike (1990). Lexikon der Sekten, Sondergruppen und Weltanschauungen: Fakten, Hintergründe, Klärungen (in German). Freiburg: Herder. ISBN 9783451055287. OCLC 45901986.
  3. ^ Ryan, Nick (2004). Into a World of Hate: A Journey Among the Extreme Right. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94922-X.
  4. ^ Hoyningen-Huene, Stefan von (2003). Religiosität bei rechtsextrem orientierten Jugendlichen (in German). Münster: LIT Verlag. p. 62. ISBN 9783825863272. OCLC 718450891.
  5. ^ Bildung, Bundeszentrale für politische. "Artgemeinschaft". bpb.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  6. ^ a b "Die Artgemeinschaft (GGG) Strategie und Ziele". Article by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia (in German). Ministerium des Innern des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Christiansen, Ingolf; Fromm, Rainer; Zinser, Hartmut. "Brennpunkt Esoterik: Okkultismus, Satanismus, Rechtsradikalismus" (PDF). p. 180. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  8. ^ a b c Feldmann, Julian; Flade, Florian; Pinkert, Reiko; Pittelkow, Sebastian. "Bundesweite Razzia: Rechtsextreme "Artgemeinschaft" verboten". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  9. ^ "Article of the constitutional protection NRW on the side of the Ministry of Interior of NRW". Archived from the original on 2012-01-14. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  10. ^ a b tagesschau.de. "Bundeswehr-Reservisten und ihr rechtsextremes Netzwerk". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-27.
  11. ^ Annette Rollmann: "FAP, Freie Kameradschaft, Artgemeinschaft.". Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2017. In: Das Parlament. No. 45 / 7 November 2005.
  12. ^ Verfassungsschutzbericht 2020, Innenministerium Niedersachsen, Verfassungsschutz, Side 50
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