This is a list of German far-right publishers (post-1945). In post-World War II Germany, after the defeat of the Nazis and Nazi Germany, the far-right was outlawed by the Allied occupation forces, preventing political continuity of the Nazi Party in a new, post-war form. In West Germany, reformed far-right parties were able to reestablish a foot hold in the national parliament in the early years of the new Federal Republic, courtesy in part to the post-war issues the new country faced. With the recovery of the German economy, the Wirtschaftswunder, the far-right declined in appeal. The far-right, from the 1960s, was characterised by fragmentation and infighting. Following the German reunification, in the early 1990s, the far-right has regained strength and become more of a threat to the democratic Germany again.[1][2]
In East Germany, a communist country, the far-right was declared extinct by the government despite the fact that a quarter of all members of the ruling communist party, in 1954, had formerly been members of the Nazi Party. Despite the official line, racism and far-right ideology existed and, towards the end of the country's existence in the late 1980s, increased. It was however swept under the carpet by the ruling authorities as ordinary violence and hooliganism rather than being allowed to be seen as a resurface of far-right ideology.[3]
The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the far-right (German: Rechtsextremismus) as a movement against the equality of all people as guaranteed by the German constitution, and as enemies of the democratic nature of the German state. Their aim is to establish an authoritarian state, modelled on the Führerprinzip. The far-right places undue value on race and ethnicity which results in xenophobia and racism. Antisemitism is a core principal of their ideology.[4] Far-right publications generally glorify Germany's Nazi past and the armed forces of the era, the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, offering historically revisionist publications and attempting to promote the myth of the "Clean Wehrmacht" and "Clean Waffen-SS". Far-right publishers are however careful to not out-rightly deny or trivialisethe Holocaust as this is a criminal offence in Germany, and many have been prosecuted for such offences in the past.[5]
The far-right print media in Germany is predominantly organised in the Gesellschaft für freie Publizistik [de], GfP, the largest far-right association of publishers, authors and book sellers, which was formed by former SS officers and Nazi officials in 1960.[7] The number of far-right publishers in Germany independent of political parties has declined from 45 in 2001 to 30 in 2016.[5]
Originally formed as the Verlag der deutschen Hochschullehrerzeitung, renamed in 1974Taken over by the Hohenrain Verlag GmbH in 2013Grabert was one of the oldest and most important far-right independent publishers in Germany
Formed as an offshoot of the Grabert Verlag in 1985 which it took over in 2013Revisionist and Holocaust-questioning publicationsPublisher of the Euro-Kurier and Deutschland in Geschichte und Gegenwart
Operated by the xenophobic and antisemitic Bundes für Gotterkenntnis (Ludendorff) e.V., named after Mathilde Ludendorff, dubbed the Great-Grandmother of German antisemitismPublisher of Mensch und Maß
Gert Sudholt (executive director, had previously been found guilty of Volksverhetzung (Incitement to hatred) and jailed, also leader the GfP for many years)
Merger of the publishers Druffel-Verlag, Türmer-Verlag and Vowinckel-VerlagOne of the largest independent far-right publishers in Germany, manly publishing revisionist historical materialPublisher of Deutsche Geschichte and Deutsche Annalen
Dankwart Strauch (Owner since 2014, is also involved in the Adoria-Verlag)
Formed as the Buchdienst Kaden, predominantly publishes material glorifying the Nazi era and Waffen-SS, publishing books by, among others, David Irving and Erich Ludendorff
Öden, Emmelie (2017). Rechtsextreme Verlage in Deutschland: Eine aktuelle Bestandsaufnahme [Far-right publishers in Germany: A current inventory]. Mainzer Buchwissenschaft. ISBN978-3945883570.