The guessing game continues AfD expels man from parliamentary group after Hitler-style speech
His Hitler-style speech at the AfD youth congress in Giessen almost overshadowed the actual event at the end. The right-wing populist party is trying to force Alexander Eichwald out.
01.12.2025, 13:11
dpa
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- The AfD in Herford has removed Alexander Eichwald from its city council faction and is preparing expulsion proceedings.
- Party friends report that Eichwald had previously behaved inconspicuously - and never rolled the distinctive "R" that he demonstrated in Giessen.
- There is speculation on the Internet as to whether the appearance was a staged performance: a provocation, satire or a third-party operation.
Following Alexander Eichwald's much-discussed appearance at the founding event of the new AfD youth organization Generation Deutschland (GD) in Giessen, the AfD in Herford has withdrawn him from its parliamentary group on the local city council.
Maximilian Kneller, an AfD member of the Bundestag from Bielefeld, told the German Press Agency. According to him, preparations are also underway in the AfD district association for expulsion proceedings against Eichwald.
He had only been in the AfD for a few weeks. Hardly anyone knew him, Kneller said. "And those who knew him say that he never rolled his Rs." He had behaved inconspicuously so far.
This suggests that his appearance in Giessen was an action, whether on his own initiative or on behalf of a third party is speculation. The AfD had agreed immediately and was doing everything it could "to get rid of him wherever possible."
The city of Herford in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia updated its information on Eichwald on the city council's website on Monday: since the newly elected city parliament was constituted a few weeks ago, he was listed there as a member of the AfD parliamentary group. Since this Monday, he has been active in several committees as a non-attached, expert citizen.
Herford AfD district chairman Alexander Parteck told the "Welt" radio station that there was nothing suspicious about the interview with Eichwald before he joined the AfD a few weeks ago. "He acted completely normal there, didn't roll his Rs either." On stage, he behaved completely differently.
Wagging finger and Hitler tone
Eichwald had applied for a position on the board of Generation Deutschland in Giessen, Hesse. In his application speech, he wagged his finger and shouted sharp right-wing slogans with a rolling "R". The tone and style of his appearance was reminiscent of Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler. Since then, there has been a huge debate within the AfD and online as to whether this was a deliberate action.
Eichwald addressed the participants as "party comrades" and "people's comrades" and shouted into the hall: "We share our love and loyalty to Germany here together" and "it is and remains our national duty to protect German culture from foreign influences".
People who advocate that children born in Germany are automatically German would "never say to a pig born in a cowshed (...), yes, it's a cow and not a pig."
