How a Jewish heir is taking on Germany's far-right AfD
Heavily supported in eastern states, the Alternative for Germany is using a GDR cultural icon, the Schwalbe moped, in its campaigning. Now, the Jewish heir
Heavily supported in eastern states, the Alternative for Germany is using a GDR cultural icon, the Schwalbe moped, in its campaigning. Now, the Jewish heir of the manufacturer is fighting to protect his family's legacy. A convoy of retro-looking Simson mopeds roars through the forests of Thuringia. The state was once part of Communist-ruled East Germany. The motorcade is the central image of a campaign video for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Styled like a 1970s road movie, the video leans heavily on nostalgia. Even the soundtrack seems designed to evoke a lost era. Leading the two-wheeler rally is Björn Höcke, one of the AfD's most recognizable hard-liners. West German politician sells Eastern identity Höcke was born and raised in West Germany. Yet he has built his political career in the east by presenting the AfD as a defender of East German identity and grievance. The state branch of the AfD has been classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by Thuringia's domestic intelligence agency. Höcke has twice been convicted for publicly using a banned Nazi slogan. Now he and his party are turning one of East Germany's best-known cultural symbols — the Simson moped — into part of their political message. That campaign has transformed a beloved moped into something else entirely for one family. The Simson heir is fighting back Dennis Baum, 82, is one of the heirs of the Simson company. He traveled from New York to Germany this summer, to speak about his family's history and the legacy of the Simson name. "The mission is to defend ourselves against the use of the family name, the Simson name, by the AfD," Baum told DW.
Baum is one of five heirs to the Simson family. Although the trademark is held by another company, the family still gets to have a say when it comes to the brand itself. His grandmother belonged to the Jewish family that founded the Simson company in the town of Suhl, in Thuringia, in 1856. The company grew into one of Germany's leading manufacturers of firearms and later vehicles before the Nazi regime forced the family to relinquish ownership in 1935. How a Jewish family's moped brand became a far-right symbol To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video After World War II, the factory continued operating in the German Democratic Republic, as the East was called, producing the mopeds that would become one of the GDR's most recognizable consumer brands. The family's concern began when the Simson name appeared as part of AfD branding earlier this year. "We found out about the use of our name on T-shirts and posters with the Höcke name or with the AfD name," Baum said as he rewatched the campaign film. For Baum, the issue is not only personal. It is rooted in the history of the family itself. "Well, it's a far-right party with the premise of intolerance, and particularly because they have stated quite clearly that they are antisemitic and we are a Jewish family," Baum said. "That certainly doesn't fit." His demand is simple. "The bottom line for us is: Get the Simson name out of politics, all politics," Baum said. Höcke, he said, is "a very difficult person to deal with, and certainly somebody with whom we wouldn't want to associate our name." The Simson mopeds were popular in the GDR Image: Sylvio Dittrich/IMAGO A moped and Germany's East-West divide Over three decades after reunification, political, economic and cultural differences between eastern and western Germany have not disappeared.
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