Baden-Württemberg: Strike against right-wing extremist music

At the end of October, the authorities took action against a right-wing extremist music network with a raid in six federal states and in Spain. There was also an operation in Baden-Württemberg.

At the request of the Green Party member of the state parliament Oliver Hildenbrand, the Ministry of the Interior explains details about this. Scientists, constitutional protection officers and scene members have been emphasizing the importance of music for the scene for decades.

The Celle Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Oldenburg Central Criminal Inspectorate had investigated, and access took place on October 26th: the police searched apartments in Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Berlin, Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg as well as on the island of Mallorca with 250 emergency services. The 34-year-old suspected ringleader from Lower Saxony was arrested, according to the authorities.

Ministry of the Interior with initial details

He is accused, among other things, of forming a criminal organization. He and the other members of the right-wing rock network are said to have produced and distributed the music. The authorities accuse a further eleven defendants aged between 36 and 59 of having contributed with sound engineering, advertising or sales.

The Green interior expert Hildenbrand wanted to know more about the actions in Baden-Württemberg from Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU). The answers are available to the “Schwäbische Zeitung”.

Accordingly, an object was searched in Achstetten – a community of 5,100 people in the Biberach district. “A 39-year-old man was affected,” explains Strobl. However, he was not arrested and no further investigations were initiated. But: “Evidence was confiscated.”

Right-wing rock as a business model

“We Greens welcome the targeted strike against the right-wing extremist music scene,” explains Hildenbrand about the incident, “and we are counting on the security authorities to consistently investigate this network and put an end to its activities.” On the one hand, music serves the scene to spread its message Ideology.

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution also emphasizes their effect. The 2022 Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution states, for example: “Music is one of the most important propaganda media of the right-wing extremist scene, both internally and externally.” Young people in particular can be introduced to right-wing ideology in this way.

On the other hand, Hildenbrand argues, money is made with it. “Right-wing rock turns music into a weapon and incitement into a business model.” This source of income must dry up. Because: “Right-wing extremism is the greatest threat to our democracy, our freedom and our security.” In order to avoid prosecution, right-wing extremist musicians have now held back from making specific calls for violence in their lyrics, explains the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Active scene in the southwest

“Instead, song lyrics of a different style have been emerging for years: with a dull, inhumane atmosphere of willingness to use violence and glorification of violence, of confessions of struggle and war, of hatred, rage, anger, hostility, revenge fantasies, contempt as well as pity and mercilessness.” In their lyrics there was a rush the musicians against enemies such as migrants, Jews, Israel, the USA, homosexuals or leftists.

How active the right-wing rock scene currently is in the southwest also seems to be a mystery to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “More concrete statements about the activities of right-wing extremist music groups in Baden-Württemberg have become increasingly difficult for several years,” says the latest report. The number of recordings has been declining for years. Because of the corona pandemic, there were hardly any live performances by musicians.

Eight right-wing extremist bands in the southwest

In response to Hildenbrand’s request, Interior Minister Strobl listed 17 concerts and recitals for 2019 that would be quieter on a smaller scale, as well as seven other right-wing radical music events. Because of the restrictions to protect against Corona, as Strobl explains, there were three events each in 2020 and 2021.

But the Ministry of the Interior has only reported four such events for 2022 and so far for 2023. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution speaks of a total of 257 right-wing rock concerts, song evenings or other music events in Germany in 2022. This not only covers the rock genre, but also all right-wing extremist music – including hip-hop and rap.

According to the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution, eight right-wing extremist bands and four songwriters are currently active in Baden-Württemberg – some of them also in the area of ​​the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. The authorities locate the “Anticonform” group in the Allgäu region and “Wehrhammer” in the Lake Constance area. “Noie Values” from the Tübingen area appeared in connection with the series of murders by the “National Socialist Underground” (NSU).

The role of the NSU

Especially in the 1990s, the NSU trio Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Bönhardt and Beate Zschäpe toured the country at least 30 times, including in Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn. They are responsible for a series of murders of ten people, one of their victims being Heilbronn police officer Michèle Kiesewetter.

From 2016 to 2018, the Stuttgart state parliament examined the activities of the NSU in the southwest in an investigative committee. One insight: Andreas G., guitarist of the band “NoieWerte”, was one of the most important links between the NSU and Baden-Württemberg.

He had moved to the Rems-Murr district from Saxony and had close connections to the NSU group. The NSU used the band’s songs to provide musical accompaniment to a confessional video. The fact that music is a million-dollar business and one of the sources of income for right-wing networks was emphasized in the committee by experts and a witness who used to be a right-wing extremist musician herself.