Coping with State Repression: Strategies of the German Far Right

There is a long tradition of banning extreme right groups in post-war Germany. Since the early 1950s German state authorities have banned some 80 groups of this kind. Being banned means that it is not allowed to hold up the structure of the group and to continue with its activities; the group`s property is seized by the state and it is not allowed anymore to show the group`s logo in public. Over the last decades, there are only two cases in which the ban has been challenged successfully in court.

Due to its relevance in the German context the instrument of banning extreme groups and parties the particular procedures and consequences have been carefully watched by protagonists of the extreme right political spectrum.

The paper`s starting point will be a brief overview about the state actors’ legal and judicial approaches towards the extreme right in post-war Germany. The main part of the paper is about the many coping strategies activists of the extreme right have developed in order to obtain as much of a political power to act in accordance with their political aims and strategies. The conclusion of the paper will be on the current case against the National Democratic Party of Germany at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.