Around 400 demonstrators protested against the opening of an AfD constituency office in Perlach on Saturday. Under the slogan “No Nazi center in Munich,” they marched from the PEP shopping center in Neuperlach across Pfanzeltplatz to Sebastian-Bauer-Straße. Rene Dierkes, the first AfD member of the state parliament in Munich, said he had rented rooms there for himself and his district association. Society must “resolutely oppose” him and his party and prevent them from spreading across the city, several speakers at the rally said.
Matthias Fleschuetz is one of the demonstrators who definitely do not want an AfD office in their neighborhood. On Friday he found out about the AfD office and the protest against it, and on Saturday morning he painted a poster. “I don’t want Nazis as neighbors” is written on it. The hot summer weather did not stop him from joining the demonstration. It is “extremely important” to oppose the AfD, he said. Nazis should “never again” come to power, and: “Never again, that is now.”
Weeks ago, Dierkes, a member of the state parliament, announced on social media that he had managed to rent rooms for the AfD. According to him, this is the first time that the AfD has a constituency office in Munich. He celebrated the opening by inviting supporters to a barbecue afternoon. This took place in a backyard in front of the constituency office; a construction fence with a black tarpaulin shielded the visitors. A narrow gap between the fence and the building served as an entrance. Behind them were beer tables, and a blue AfD umbrella could be seen from outside.
Organizer Dierkes is considered to be part of the nationalist wing of the AfD. On social media, he shows closeness to the Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner. He also expressed his solidarity with Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections. He was expelled from the group by his own party because one of his employees was suspected of espionage and he himself had stated in an interview with an Italian newspaper that not everyone in the Waffen-SS was a war criminal. Dierkes does not see the day of Germany’s capitulation in World War II and thus the end of the Nazi regime as a reason to celebrate. A speaker at the demonstration against him and the AfD office summed up his political stance as follows: “Rene Dierkes is a fascist.”
Open detailed viewAbout 400 demonstrators gathered for a counter demonstration in Perlach. (Photo: Catherina Hess)
Far more than the 150 participants registered with the district administration department made it clear that they definitely did not want such a man in Perlach. This message was written on a poster on the balcony of the house opposite. “No right-wing hate center at Pfanzeltplatz,” it read. Protesters carried signs, including the inscription: “Nazi scum is not welcome here.” The demonstrators were led to the side of the street opposite the AfD office by the police, who were deployed with a total of around 90 officers. The protest was peaceful and without incident, a spokeswoman said on Sunday.
