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Diessenhofen is definitively parting ways with its controversial pastor.
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For months, pastor Gottfried Spieth in Diessenhofen TG made headlines due to his closeness to the German AfD and controversial Facebook posts. Now the Protestant parish is officially parting ways with him.
As announced by the Evangelical Church of the Canton of Thurgau on Friday, Pastor Gottfried Spieth will be relieved of all duties from August 15. The 64-year-old, who has worked in the parish of Diessenhofen since 2017, will hold his last service on Sunday, August 10, at his own request. According to the church, the separation was made by mutual agreement between Spieth, the congregation's supervisory committee and the church council.
The decision is the culmination of months of controversy. Spieth was not only active as a pastor in Thurgau, but also as a political representative of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Frankfurt an der Oder. There had already been discussions about his dual mandate and his frequent absences.
The case became even more explosive when the "Schaffhauser AZ" newspaper published Facebook posts that Spieth had allegedly shared on a profile. According to reports, he relativized Nazi crimes, spoke of "Germanic anger" and described Adolf Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor as "democratic pragmatism".
According to the Church Council, the content had anti-Semitic and nationalist undertones. Spieth did not deny having written the articles, but spoke of "associative thought experiments" with no right-wing extremist intent.
The church leadership was outraged at the time. Church Council President Christina Aus der Au told the "St. Galler Tagblatt" newspaper: "This is not acceptable. This does not correspond to the values of our church at all." The church council then considered taking legal action, including dismissal from office.
Instead, an amicable separation was reached. Spieth recently declared that he had "learned a lesson" from the events. This insight apparently came too late for those responsible at the national church.
