Matthias Helferich
Matthias Helferich | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2021 | |
| Parliamentary group | Independent (2021–2025) AfD (since 2025) |
| Constituency | AfD Party List |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 October 1988 Dortmund, West Germany |
| Political party | AfD (since 2016) |
| Other political affiliations | Young Union (formerly) |
| Alma mater | Bonn University |
| Occupation | Lawyer • Politician |
Matthias Helferich (born 14 October 1988) is a German right-wing extremist and politician (Alternative for Germany).[1] He has been a factionless member of the Bundestag since 2021.[2] In 2025, he was readmitted back into the AfD parliamentary group like the also controversial Maximilian Krah.[3][4]
Biography
[edit]Helferich was born in 1988 in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He served at Bundeswehr in guard unit (Wachbataillon) in Siegburg and begann to study 2009 law at University Bonn.
Helferich was elected to the Bundestag in 2021.[2] Although a party member of AfD, Helferich never entered the party faction and is currently a factionless member of the Bundestag.
Within the AfD, Helferich is part of the ethnic-national wing under Björn Höcke.[5]
In 2025, He was readmitted back into the AfD faction.[6][7]
Ideology
[edit]The right-wing extremist likes to use comparisons and references from the Nazi era.
During his election campaign, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) banned Helferich from holding political office. Helferich had described himself in messages as the "friendly face of the ns [sic]", referring to National Socialism. Helferich also called himself a "democratic Freisler", referring to a Nazi-era judge. Helferich later said that his statements were meant as parody: "If you are confronted with Nazi accusations as frequently as AfD politicians, you compensate for that in private spheres. You ridicule it."[8][9][10]
He called himself the "democratic Freisler". Roland Freisler was a Nazi lawyer and participant in the Wannsee Conference. Because of further racist outbursts, Helferich is even being expelled from the party in AfD North Rhine-Westphalia.[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "Bundeswahlleiter (Federal Election Commissioner of Germany) - Elected Politicians in the Federal Election 2021". bundeswahlleiter. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ a b "Deutscher Bundestag - Matthias Helferich". Deutscher Bundestag.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ deutschlandfunk.de (2025-02-25). "AfD-Fraktion - Umstrittene AfD-Politiker im Bundestag". Die Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ "Matthias Helferich: AfD-Politiker verzichtet nach NS-Äußerung auf Fraktionszugehörigkeit". Der Spiegel (in German). 2021-09-30. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ Weiland, Severin (2021-08-09). "AfD und Matthias Helferich: Jörg Meuthen scheitert im Streit über AfD-Landesvize". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ^ "Going to the extreme: Inside Germany's far right". BBC. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
- ^ Joswig, Gareth (2025-02-25). "AfD mit Helferich und Krah: Das „freundliche Gesicht des NS"". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
