Thuringia
Online shop of a nationally known neo-Nazi becomes a training company
Tommy Frenck at the right-wing rock festival he organized “Rock against foreign infiltration” in 2017 in Themar
For years, the online shop of the neo-Nazi Tommy Frenck, who is known throughout Germany, has been selling, among other things, clothing, merchandise and weapons such as knives and batons typical of the scene. Nevertheless, the IHK South Thuringia has now granted him a training license.
A neo-Nazi mail order company becomes a training company. What sounds like bad satire is reality in Thuringia. The shop “Druck18” of the nationally known Neo-Nazi Tommy Frenck was awarded the public seal “Recognized Training Company 2024” by the South Thuringia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). Both the shop and Frenck himself have been important contact points for right-wing extremists in Thuringia, Germany and neighboring European countries for years. The name says it all: The number combination 18 is a common code for the letters A and H in the right-wing extremist scene – Adolf Hitler’s initials.
In Frenck’s shop you can buy many items that make neo-Nazi hearts beat faster: from knives and batons to clothing in black, white and red or with the codes “18” or “88” (for Heil Hitler) to self-marketed items “Reichsbräu” beer with Iron Cross and Imperial Eagle on the label.
IHK boss: “We have no discretion”
Frenck has been an important mastermind in the neo-Nazi scene for many years. In addition to the online shop, he also runs the well-known restaurant “Goldener Löwe” in the Thuringian monastery of Veßra and organizes right-wing rock festivals. He is also a district council member for the “Hildburghausen Alliance”. The 37-year-old has a criminal record for incitement to hatred and grievous bodily harm. Last October he was also charged with trade and sales tax fraud amounting to 141,000 euros.
Nevertheless, the IHK has now granted Frenck a license to train people with his online shop. The head of the South Thuringian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Ralf Pieterwas, told “Bild”: “We distance ourselves from right-wing extremist ideas. But determining the suitability of trainers is a sovereign state legal act and not a question of civil courage. We have no discretion.” The instructor test also asks about intercultural teaching content, but anyone who answers enough of the 80 questions correctly passes, says Pieterwas. Frenck certainly got his driving license too.
In his shop, Frenck sells, among other things, clothing with Wehrmacht vehicles, motifs from the German Reich or patterns that are based on the banned group “Blood and Honor”.
© Screenshot “Druck18.de”
So the IHK’s hands are tied. The dilemma is much more a matter for the state: “If it is an unconstitutional shop, then it should be banned. But it is not our job to initiate such proceedings.” But the state is retreating further and further and is capitulating to such business practices, says Pieterwas.