The Osnabrück AfD and its candidates

This text should be available on the Osnabrück Research Collective website (https://rkos.noblogs.org/) are published. Since we are also affected by the end of Noblogs, we have decided to publish the following text on Indymedia. You can find an illustrated version of the text under the files.

Local elections are taking place again in Lower Saxony on Sunday.

As in the last elections five years ago, the AfD Osnabrück is trying to get a larger number of its candidates elected to the Osnabrück city council. This year, the AfD Osnabrück also nominated a mayoral candidate for the first time. But who are all these new candidates and what do they do when they're not running for a fascist party?

The AfD was able to find twelve people who wanted to run for them in a total of eight electoral areas. Although that is more than in the previous elections, it is still significantly less than for the other parties.

This is where one of the weaknesses of the AfD Osnabrück becomes clear: it is not in a position to put forward a comparable number of its members for election as other parties.

Although they were able to find people for every constituency in the city council elections in Osnabrück, there are areas in the district where no one wants to run for the AfD, for example in Belm and Ostercappeln. That doesn't mean that there aren't any AfD members there; Rather, the backlash that a candidacy for a right-wing party brings with it seems to be too great. This is how protest and headwind have their effect.

In addition, the AfD in the Osnabrück area has had an above-average turnover of members in recent years, which has also changed the composition of the local structure significantly. Of the seven men who were nominated in 2021, only two will also stand for the coming election.

While not a single woman stood for the AfD Osnabrück in the last elections, now there are four. After the first list was drawn up in January 2026, Kerstin Otte was initially the only woman on the list of candidates. A circumstance that visibly frustrated Florian Meyer, the chairman of the AfD city district association. Even if the AfD and Florian Meyer reject quotas for women, a proportion of women of 1/12 was difficult to sustain. According to Meyer, three women had planned to run when the list was first put together; However, two withdrew their candidacy - probably out of fear of consequences from their employers and for personal reasons. This changed in June 2026, when the list was subsequently changed and three more women were added to the AfD list. At the same time, three men were taken off the list (more on that later).

Viktor Jersch was the only elected member of the AfD in the current city council, but gave up his seat to Alexander Garder. (Since then, Garder has not been noticed for well-researched or successful applications.) From this one seat, the AfD Osnabrück has announced that it wants to gain five seats in this year's elections.

The candidates

• Elective area 1: Kerstin Otte

• Elective area 2: Markus Kemper (1st place) and Jens Baumann (1st place)

• Elective area 3: Thomas Heinrich Spohn

• Elective area 4: Alexander Garder

• Elective area 5: Giuliano Arno Steinmeyer (1st place) and Brigitta Spors (2nd place)

• Elective area 6: Friedhelm Leist

• Elective area 7: Michael Meyer (1st place) and Katrin Mohring (2nd place)

• Elective area 8: Thorsten Wassermann (1st place) and Svetlana Spirina (2nd place)

Candidate for mayor: Thorsten Wassermann

For theElective area 1(Gartlage, inner city, Schinkel, Sonnenhügel) is runningKerstin Otte.She has only recently become a member of the AfD. She was previously active with the Corona deniers. Kerstin Otte tries to give the city association a serious appearance. The expert in operations management at “Regionalverkehr Start Deutschland GmbH” can be found at many of the AfD’s current information stands. Nevertheless, she doesn't have the other members under control either. She seemed visibly uncomfortable when Thore Berger, a former AfD member who, according to her own statements, has since left the party, chased a journalist at an information stand and kicked him in the shin.

For theElective area 2(Darum-Gretesch-Lüstringen, Schinkel, Schinkel-Ost, Widukindland) are also runningMarkus Kemper(1st place) andJens Baumann(2nd place) two people. Markus Kemper has been a member of the AfD since 2024. He has been married since September 20, 2024. In addition to his political commitment, he runs the Johannis Bierstube at Johannisstrasse 8, which is of course practical for the AfD, as the pub provides them with a central and uncomplicated meeting place for their increasingly less regular regulars' meetings. However, they currently claim that they will no longer meet there. In the past, several get-togethers have taken place there, some with “prominent” visitors. In addition to contacts with the AfD, there also seem to be contacts with the rocker milieu.

A member who has been active for much longer is Jens Baumann, who is running for second place in electoral area 2. He has been a member of the AfD since October 15, 2016 and is running for the city council elections for the second time after failing to take office in 2021. He is a very active member who not only takes on positions, but also likes to support information tables with his black Skoda Yeti. In addition, he is regularly present at municipal commemorative events (e.g. July 20, 1944 or Reichsprogromnacht). When he is not active for the AfD, he says he works as a deputy warehouse manager/skilled worker for warehouse logistics.

Thomas Heinrich Spohnwould like for thatElective area 3(Fledder, inner city, Nahne, Schölerberg, Voxtrup) move into the city council. Spohn is not a newcomer to politics. In 2021 he unsuccessfully ran for the Liberal-Conservative Reformers (LKR) in the city council elections. He has been a member of the AfD since 2023. As Florian Meyer's shadow, he traveled to the AfD's federal party conference in 2024 and can also often be found at the party's information stands. Spohn recently got married. In his free time he apparently likes to visit the Hase Circus on Hasestrasse. In addition to his work as an employee in soft top construction, he dabbles in network marketing for Forever Living. This is a former MLM (multi-level marketing company, colloquially known as a “pyramid system”) from the USA. You can purchase overpriced aloe products there. To sell the products, he runs an Instagram page on which he calls himself “Carrot Coach”. The website of the same name links to the website of the network marketing company Forever Living. Forever Living is not the first network marketing company Spohn has worked for. In 2007 he was responsible for developing the sales of the Zija brand.

Alexander Garderis the only current city council member who could be re-elected to the city council for the AfD. He's running for theElective area 4(Inner city, Kalkhügel, Nahne, Schölerberg, Sutthausen). He was born on September 18, 1977 in Kazakhstan, was an army officer there and moved to Germany in 2000. Here he practiced a variety of professions. Today he works as a customer service representative at Eurobahn. He has been a member of the AfD since 2021, for which he ran unsuccessfully for the city council for the first time in the same year. After Viktor Jersch renounced his mandate on June 30, 2023, Garder took over. It is currently the only opportunity for the AfD to participate in council politics in Osnabrück. However, Garder has not attracted attention either through successful or well-researched applications. For example, he claimed that you could no longer pay with cash in the Osnabrück town hall, which was not true. He also attracted attention by justifying a homophobic flyer from the AfD Osnabrück. This is hardly surprising, after all, the father of two is an evangelical Christian and a member of the Encounter Church (formerly Lebensquelle) and the Christ Center Osnabrück. The former made a name for itself through its cult-like relationships and attempts to banish homosexuality.

WithGiuliano Arno Steinmeyer(1st place, year of birth 2004) andBrigitta Spors(2nd place, year of birth 1967) want the youngest and oldest candidates for theElective area 5(Hellern, Wüste) move into the city council. Giuliano Steinmeyer joined the AfD in 2022 at the age of 18. Since January 2026, the seller has actually been responsible for youth work as an assessor of the Osnabrück City district association. But this doesn't seem to suit him. Hardly any younger people can be found at events organized by the Osnabrück City AfD district association. There doesn't seem to be a Generation Germany branch for Osnabrück yet. However, he networks across Lower Saxony and beyond via the AfD and Generation Germany (GD). For example, on March 22nd, 2026 he attended an event of the GD district association Ems-Vechte with Melissa Anter and a regulars' table of the AfD Nienburg with MdB Ulrich von Zons. On March 8, 2026, he distributed flowers with the same AfD association. He and Anter also visited a handcart tour run by GD Emsland. At over 36 °C, some of the young people had clearly looked too deeply into the glass. Steinmeyer completed his training at Nordwestbahn in the workshop in East Westphalia-Lippe (2020–2024).

In addition to Thomas Spohn, Brigitta Spors, who describes herself as a freelance pharmaceutical representative and personal coach, is also trying her luck with several multi-level marketing companies. She stated that she was the German market coordinator for Glantier Parfums. In the past she apparently also worked as a sales partner for Natura Vitalis. However, their AI-generated posts that aren't resized for Instagram's tile size don't seem to be very successful. Brigitta says she has been a member of the AfD since 2024. She is one of the women who were subsequently nominated for election. Does her partner Martin D. have a problem with her membership in an extreme right-wing party?

The candidate forElective area 6(city center, Westerberg, Weststadt, desert),Friedhelm Leist, is the owner of Leist F. Superstudio. This is a lamp and antique shop at Martinistrasse 30, which attracted attention during the Corona period with a sign that was obviously aimed at people from the lateral thinking environment.

For theElective area 7(Atter, Eversburg, Hafen, Westerberg) are runningMichael MeyerandKatrin Mohring.

Michael Meyer, born on October 17, 1986, describes himself as a family man and entrepreneur. He has been married to Katerina since 2021. Meyer is the owner of M.EX Serv (Römereschstraße 34, 49090 Osnabrück), a caretaker service, and also organizes flea markets and craft markets. Photo boxes can also be rented from M.EX Serv. The next flea market will take place on September 27th, 2026 on the grounds of the Natruper Tor e.V. allotment garden association. V. instead. This year a flea market has already taken place at the KGV Natruper Tor and on the grounds of the KGV Schinkel e. V. two. In the allotment garden association Natruper Tor e. The AfD Osnabrück summer festival also took place last year, although the allotment garden association credibly distanced itself from it afterwards. Michael Meyer says he has been a party member since 2024. In recent years, however, he has hardly appeared publicly for the AfD.

Katrin Mohring was born in 1979 and, according to the NOZ, lived in Northern Ireland for five years. However, she has been living in Osnabrück again for several years, where she works as a nursing specialist at the Niels Stensen Clinics. She publicly represents the AfD's racist worldview. She is quoted in a NOZ article as follows: “We have brought millions of anti-Semites into the country.” By “anti-Semites” she means all Muslim people who have migrated to Germany in recent years. Such generalized statements about parts of the population are unacceptable, especially with regard to their profession, as they are responsible for people in very vulnerable situations.

WithThorsten WassermannThe AfD Osnabrück is fielding a candidate for the office of mayor for the first time this year. He is also running for officeSvetlana Spirinain theElective area 8(Dodesheide, Haste, Pye, Sonnenhügel). Before joining the AfD in 2023, Thorsten Wassermann was first active with the Association of Osnabrück Citizens (BOB) and then with the “Independents for Osnabrück” (UfO). He received a mandate on the city council for BOB in 2019 after another member resigned. In 2020 he broke away from BOB and sat in an independent position on the city council as UfO for another year.

In 2021 he ran unsuccessfully for the Free Voters in the federal elections. At the beginning of the corona pandemic, he was active in the Telegram group “Fundamental Rights Osnabrück” and took part in the associated rallies. On site, he shared his alleged knowledge of local politics and shared non-public committee meetings in Telegram groups. Wassermann worked as a master tiler for a long time, but today he only earns his money as a landlord. He says he can therefore empathize particularly well with the problems of the tenants. Thorsten Wassermann has been an important person in the AfD Osnabrück for years. He is present at information stands and attends their events. His candidacy is therefore not surprising.

Svetlana Spirina is the final candidate for the city council. She already seems to regret her candidacy. All photos of her have disappeared from AfD Osnabrück's social media profiles and she cannot be found on the AfD website. The pediatric surgeon obviously did not expect that her candidacy would not be well received by everyone. According to NOZ, the employer of the senior physician in pediatric surgery, the Lippe Detmold Clinic, was contacted several times. The criticism of her candidacy is understandable, after all she works as a pediatric surgeon in a particularly sensitive area. Children and their parents must be able to rely on the fact that their origin, religion, gender, etc. have no influence on their treatment. But that is exactly what needs to be questioned by members of the AfD. She herself states that she has been a member of the AfD since 2023. Shortly before the election, she now says she left the party. In addition to her position as senior physician, she offers online consultations.

In contrast to the frustrated Florian Meyer, we welcomed this withdrawal and are therefore currently refraining from disclosing the numerous other information that can be found about her here. However, she has now announced that if she were elected, she would still want to be part of an AfD faction.

As already mentioned, three men are no longer standing for election: These are:Stephan Schimweg, Thorsten Kemper and Dirk Ulrich Meyer-Koop. Why is unclear. For one person, connections to the neo-Nazi scene may have posed a problem. In 2007, Stephan Schirmweg tried to sell the train station building in Melle to the NPD. They wanted to use the building as a training center. He was quoted in the NOZ as follows: "Rieger can imagine having the Wiking youth train there too," said Schimweg. The NPD had already signed the purchase agreement, but then withdrew. The now 61-year-old naturally omitted this detail from his introduction on Instagram. Before the AfD, Schimweg was active in the German Center Party.

This text is only intended to serve as an initial overview of the many (some new) AfD candidates. Further information can be received by email (rk_os[at]riseup.net)be forwarded to us. also with PGP encryption, the public key is available on request. Also preferably with PGP encryption. The key is available on request.

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