Right-wing extremism | Björn Höcke and a Nazi

Protest against the AfD in Fürstenwalde Photo: dpa/Patrick Pleul There is hardly a meeting of the left spectrum anymore where well-known figures from the right-wing scene do not appear. They film and broadcast live on the Internet how attempts are being made to stop them. When their field of vision is blocked or they are told they are not wanted, they insist on freedom of the press. What they are doing can only be described as journalism in a generous interpretation. If they don't get the attention they need right away, they make themselves known through mocking comments. For example, Weichreite, Björn Banane and the Volksbote appear more or less in the manner described.

According to his own statements, Björn Banane is non-party, but under his real name he belongs to the AfD faction in the Michendorf municipal council. On October 3rd, Banane, like other right-wing YouTubers, mingled with visitors to a festival for diversity and solidarity at Fürstenwalde Cathedral. An older man with a peace dove on his T-shirt first wants to talk to Banane, but then doesn't after he is told who he is dealing with. Banane is outraged by the poster motif “Björn Höcke is a Nazi” and another depiction of Höcke allegedly giving the Hitler salute. Banana complains that such posters are allowed.

The Left had hung a “Björn Höcke is a Nazi” poster in the window of its district office in Fürstenwalde in the run-up to October 3rd. It was confiscated by the police, but handed over again after it was examined by the public prosecutor and found to be harmless. As a result, 200 posters saying “Björn Höcke is a Nazi” were ordered and hung up and distributed in the city, the deputy Left regional chairman Stephan Wende reported to the “nd” on Monday. Wende estimates that up to 800 people were at the festival at the same time on Saturday and there were certainly more than 1,000 visitors throughout the day. “I won’t hide the fact that we expected significantly less,” says Wende. Because the population is slowly getting tired after several right-wing marches in Fürstenwalde.

Pastor Kevin Jessa explained on RBB television: “As a civil society in Fürstenwalde, we want to show that we can celebrate colorfully, happily and well together. And that is exactly the right symbol and the right signal on German Unity Day - and we are not an AfD stronghold. We particularly want to show that.«

The AfD achieved 36.3 percent of the votes in the federal election in February 2025 in Fürstenwalde - much less than the 60.9 percent in the municipality of Tschernitz, but still more than the 32.5 percent across Brandenburg.

Björn Banane was harassed at the diversity festival. However, he was able to speak undisturbed with a man who told him: "I don't feel bothered when I see a rainbow flag" and that it was "a problem" that the right-wing had taken over the German flag.

On October 2nd, Brandenburg's Interior Minister Jan Redmann (CDU) informed about his order to permanently flag the ministry, the police headquarters, the police college, the state academy for public administration and the state school for fire and disaster control in black, red and gold. »Anyone who works for this country works for the Basic Law. The flags in front of our buildings make this visible every day,” Redmann explained. Black, red and gold, the red eagle as Brandenburg's heraldic animal and the stars of Europe "belong together," says the Interior Minister. “And they belong to no one alone, but to all of us.”

Redmann is not acting out of conviction, but out of fear of being thrown out of the state parliament in 2029. That's why he suddenly discovered patriotism, commented AfD state chairman René Springer. The deputy Juso regional leader Lena Schönfelder said: “The debate with the right must not be limited to a competition about who will occupy national symbols most convincingly. What is crucial is how we practically counter the right’s exclusionary view of society and defend unity, justice and freedom for everyone, especially marginalized people.”

AfD politician Björn Höcke on the Bullenwiese Photo: dpa/Patrick Pleul The Fürstenberg Festival for Diversity and Solidarity was organized as a counter-event to a simultaneous AfD festival on the city's Bullenwiese. The police estimated the number of visitors there at 1,500, the AfD spoke of more than 3,000 guests. Björn Höcke appeared and saw a “turning mood” in East Germany, with 43.8 percent for his party in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. According to the dpa news agency, Brandenburg's AfD state leader Springer explained: "44 percent is just not enough." Springer once again stated the goal of getting 50 percent of the votes in the 2029 Brandenburg state election. Then the AfD could govern the state alone.

Just as Björn Banane went to the festival, the journalist Hannes Kreschel from Saxony-Anhalt went to the AfD festival. Kreschel is 23 years old, active in the SPD and produces videos that are vaguely reminiscent of the way Björn Banane & Co. work - only the other way around. A video shows Kreschel approaching a young man in Fürstenwalde wearing a "Landser" sweater and saying: "I think Landser is not allowed to be worn freely." Because Landser is a right-wing rock band that dissolved in 2003 and was classified as a criminal organization by the Berlin Court of Appeal. A woman throws a bottle at Kreschel. He insists: "But Landser is forbidden, you're not allowed to wear that." The woman then replies: "Hitler would have gassed you back then!" She then allegedly didn't say that and repeatedly slapped away the cell phone that Kreschel was using to film the scene. Finally, the man with the “Landser” sweater rushes at Kreschel and hits him repeatedly, but is pulled back by another man.

The police filed a complaint of assault and insult in this incident. The responsible police department also reported that a 24-year-old YouTuber was attacked and injured when the AfD demonstrated through the city following the festival. The police were able to determine the identities of those involved in the crime. Hannes Kreschel told “nd” on Monday that he was excited to see what would happen next.

Incidentally, in the video that documents the attack on him, an older man wearing an AfD T-shirt can be seen trying to calm the situation. This man was noticed on Wednesday evening in Berlin on the sidelines of a rally against the AfD's move into the house at Köllnischer Park. There he angrily heckled leftists and complained about anti-fascist stickers on a street lamp. When asked whether he was from the AfD, he said no.

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