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Neo-Nazi marches take place regularly in Gera – with support from the local AfD, like Contrasts-Show research. The assembly authority remains largely passive. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees increasing potential for aggression.
When the neo-Nazi Christian Klar calls for demonstrations in Gera, it is usually a spectacle: flares, Bengalos and fireworks are a regular part of his rallies. Since the corona pandemic, Klar and his colleagues have dominated the public space in the city of 95,000 residents in eastern Thuringia. A mix of anti-vaccination activists, conspiracy believers and right-wing radicals regularly demonstrate here, especially on Mondays.
Open fantasies of overthrow
The topics are interchangeable: now it’s no longer just about the pandemic, but also, for example, about the war in Ukraine, energy prices, refugee accommodation and – of course – the farmers’ protests.
At a demonstration on this occasion in January, Klar shouted from the stage that protests alone would not be enough to get rid of the government: “They sit at the feeding trough, and a sow never leaves the trough on its own. Only when it goes to the slaughterhouse goes!” They are openly expressed fantasies of violence and subversion. Klar regularly ends his speeches with the slogan “Everything for Germany!” – the slogan of the National Socialist SA.
The fact that they follow Christian Klar, a neo-Nazi who has been active for decades and has multiple convictions, apparently doesn’t bother his followers. According to the Gera public prosecutor’s office, there are currently around 20 investigations underway against Klar – including for incitement to hatred, public incitement to commit crimes or the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations.
Gera hotspot of the right-wing extremist scene
The President of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan Kramer, told the ARD political magazine Contrasts Gera as a “hotspot” of the right-wing extremist scene. “We have also seen in the last few months, but especially during the pandemic, that the potential for aggression in this scene continues to increase,” says Kramer.
It is all the more surprising how passively the local authorities treat Christian Klar and his marches. “I have the impression that not enough is happening in Gera on the part of the assembly authorities,” says SPD city councilor Heiner Fritzsche Contrasts.
It is incomprehensible that Klar elevators with long flagpoles, horses and pyrotechnics would be approved right through the center of Gera. City councilor Nils Fröhlich from the Greens is also convinced that regulatory authorities in other cities would deal with such rallies differently.
Hardly any requirements from the authorities
Contrasts-Research shows: In fact, the assembly authorities in Gera hardly restrict Klar’s activities. When asked what conditions were imposed on five selected large-scale demonstrations in recent months, the city administration responded in several cases with: “None.” In other cases, only a maximum volume was set. Flares and pyrotechnics were only banned in one case.
The non-party mayor Julian Vonarb contradicts the accusation that the city is too lenient towards Klar Contrasts-Interview: “Especially for the big rallies that he organizes on October 3rd or at the beginning of the year, we have already tightened our belts significantly against him through the assembly authority and have worked much more with conditions.”
A statement that seems difficult to understand: There were no requirements from the city administration for the rally on October 3rd, as they confirmed when asked. Instead, cooperation discussions were held with Klar, in which he was “always cooperative”. “So notices were no longer necessary.” In fact, during this demonstration, Klar drove through the city on a large military vehicle, accompanied by riders on horses, and Klar set off fireworks again.
Criticism from defense of Constitution
Criticism of the city’s actions also comes from the President of the Thuringian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “In some of these actions, I would like to put it very carefully, more could have been done to exploit the legal possibilities of a defensive democracy and the rule of law,” says Kramer. Sometimes one can even get the impression that in the local authorities “certain sympathies for the people acting there play a role.”
Klar receives open support from the ranks of the local AfD. The party has been the largest faction in the Gera city council since it won almost 29 percent of the vote in the 2019 local elections. The Gera AfD member of the state parliament, Wolfgang Lauerwald, repeatedly demonstrates side by side with Klar. The state chairman Björn Höcke has also spoken at events organized by Klar.
Support from the AfD in Gera
In a private voice message, the Contrasts Christian Klar makes it clear how important the party’s support is to him: “The Gera AfD city association has always supported us,” says Klar. “Dr. Harald Frank advertised the first demonstration of the size where there were 2,000 men with flyers in the ‘Neues Gera’. Otherwise it would never have been this successful.”
Frank is the chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the city council. He is the editor of the “Neues Gera”, a free advertising paper in which, in addition to local news, there is always advertising for Klar’s demonstrations and events.
There is an explosive interaction in Gera between the AfD in the parliaments and the neo-Nazi scene on the streets – largely undisturbed by the city’s assembly authorities.