Free German Workers' Party
Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
AbbreviationFAP
LeaderMichael Kühnen (1979–1989)
Friedhelm Busse (1989–1995)
Founded1979
Banned24 February 1995
HeadquartersBonn, Federal Republic of Germany
Membership (1987)500
IdeologyStrasserism
Neo-Nazism
Political positionFar-right
ColorsRed, black and white
Party flag

The Free German Workers' Party (German: Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; abbreviated FAP) was a neo-Nazi political party in Germany. It was outlawed by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1995.

History

The FAP was founded in 1979 but was largely insignificant until the banning of the Action Front of National Socialists/National Activists in 1983 when Michael Kühnen encouraged members to infiltrate this tiny group. A minor party (around 500 members in 1987) it experienced something of a growth after German reunification and sought, unsuccessfully, an alliance with the National Democratic Party.[1] It contested the 1987 federal election and the 1989 European elections although in both instances it attracted negligible support.[2]

Tiwaz rune on flag variant of the party[3]

Associated with Strasserism, the FAP party managed to gain some support amongst football hooligans but was damaged by Kühnen's homosexuality, and took a stand against him. The party continued under Friedhelm Busse from 1989 but it lost a number of members to new groups loyal to Kühnen, including the German Alternative (1989) and the National Offensive (1990).[4]

The party was outlawed by the Federal Constitutional Court on 24 February 1995.

References

  1. ↑ D. Childs, 'The Far Right in Germany Since 1945' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 301
  2. ↑ Paul Hainsworth, The Extreme Right in Europe and the USA, Pinter, 1992, p. 63
  3. ↑ Photos show use of this flag in the early 1990s
  4. ↑ C. T. Husbands, 'Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1990s' in L. Cheles, R. Ferguson & M. Vaughan, The Far Right in Western and Eastern Europe, 1995, p. 329
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