new details about the right-wing extremist past of Bavarian Deputy State Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger have been leaking out every day
It is now clear that the Free Voters’ leader was a neo-Nazi as a youth and defends it to this day
Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder (Christian Social Union
CSU) nevertheless decided at noon on Sunday that Aiwanger would remain in office
He had been under considerable pressure to dismiss him before the state elections in five weeks
Söder’s decision in favour of Aiwanger also means he is likely to continue working with him after the election
Since the beginning of the election campaign
Söder had explicitly spoken out in favour of continuing the governing alliance of the CSU and the Free Voters
which he describes as a “bourgeois coalition.” His keeping Aiwanger in office is a clear signal that right-wing extremism is not an obstacle to holding the highest government positions in Germany
the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on an antisemitic leaflet circulated in Aiwanger’s school
the Burkhart Gymnasium in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg
The school administration identified Aiwanger as the author of the inflammatory pamphlet
several copies of which were found in his bag
The leaflet is a cynical stringing together of the vilest inflammatory neo-Nazi slogans
Titled “Federal competition: Who is the greatest traitor to the fatherland?” it invites those eligible to take part—“Anyone who is German and resides on German soil”—to report to “the Dachau concentration camp for an interview.”
The first prize promised is a “free flight through the chimney at Auschwitz.” Other prizes are a “lifelong stay in a mass grave,” a “free shot in the neck,” a “free beheading by guillotine” and a “ticket to the eternal hunting grounds (place of fulfilment also the Auschwitz pleasure quarter and subcamps).” The winners of prizes 7-1,000 are threatened with “a night in the Gestapo cellar
then off to Dachau.” The inflammatory leaflet ends by wishing the winners to “have a good time.”
The title of the leaflet obviously referred to the “History Competition of the Federal President,” which has taken place every two years since 1973 and is meant to encourage pupils to deal with German history
at least one pupil from Aiwanger’s high school
Serlitzky submitted his work on the “Jewish cemetery near Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg” in February 1989 and included a copy of Aiwanger’s inflammatory leaflet as a “negative example” of how “other young people of the same age deal with the Third Reich,” without
Buried in the cemetery are 67 concentration camp prisoners who died in spring 1945 during a death march from Buchenwald concentration camp
The “traitors to the fatherland” to whom the leaflet offered Auschwitz
guillotine and a shot in the neck as a “prize” were thus meant to be participants in the history competition who investigated and uncovered crimes of the Nazi regime
Aiwanger reacted to the Süddeutsche’s publication by denying everything
speaking of a “smear campaign” and threatening the newspaper with legal action and claims for damages
he admitted that one or more copies of the leaflet had been found in his pocket
He knew the author but did not want to “blow the whistle” on him
who is a year older and had attended the same high school
He claimed to have written the leaflet himself
The leaflets had ended up in his brother Hubert’s pocket because he had “collected them again” to “de-escalate.”
Numerous eyewitnesses came forward who believed that the politician Aiwanger had written the diatribe
The latter was considered a “cool” guy with long hair
while Hubert’s appearance was with strictly parted hair and a moustache
Helmut wrote an essay about the Rolling Stones
Hubert about a Bavarian fighter pilot from the First World War
Journalists from Der Spiegel and the Süddeutsche each tracked down about two dozen eyewitnesses
many of whom confirmed that Hubert Aiwanger was considered a neo-Nazi at school
“Several former pupils and teachers remember Hubert Aiwanger as a strict conservative to right-wing radical,” Spiegel reports
He had defended Hitler’s Wehrmacht (armed forces) and declared that it had “behaved honourably.” He had occasionally given a “Sieg Heil” salute and had made a disgusting joke about Jews after a visit to a concentration camp memorial
A former schoolmate recalled seeing Hitler’s Mein Kampf in Hubert Aiwanger’s schoolbag and him holding the book in his hand once
Another schoolmate swore an oath that the racist slogan “Schwarzbraun ist die Negersau” (“Black-brown is the negro sow”) was written on the inside of a folder Hubert had with him at school
who was the student representative at the Burkhart high school at the time
told the Süddeutsche about swastika graffiti in the school toilets
The headmaster had confirmed to him that Hubert Aiwanger had been found guilty of this
Possibly that is why he was immediately suspected of authoring the flyer and the copies found in his pocket
assured the Süddeutsche: “He was a Nazi through and through.” He had often sung the “Horst Wessel Song,” the banned anthem of the Nazi Party
Hubert Aiwanger finally read out a short statement at a press conference in which he made a pro forma apology
“I deeply regret if I have hurt feelings through my behaviour in relation to the pamphlet in question or further accusations against me from my youth,” he said
His apology was “first and foremost to all the victims of the Nazi regime
their surviving dependents and all those involved in the valuable remembrance work.”
Aiwanger intensified the attacks on his critics
At election campaign appearances in beer tents in front of cheering supporters
he stylised himself as the persecuted victim of a “smear campaign” who was to be “politically and personally finished off.” He continued to deny having written the agitational leaflet and mocked the Jewish victims of the Nazi regime
accusing his critics in an interview in Die Welt of abusing “the Shoah for party political purposes.”
State Premier Söder (CSU) justified his decision to keep Aiwanger in office by saying that it was his impression that Aiwanger had credibly distanced himself from his serious youthful mistakes
there was no proof that Aiwanger had created or distributed the leaflet
He had given Aiwanger the “serious and well-intentioned advice: even if all these things happened a long time ago
it is important to show remorse and humility.”
Aiwanger had answered 25 questions in writing about the events of 1987/88
which the latter had submitted to him in order to gain time
His answer to almost all the questions was: “Details not remembered,” “that escapes me,” “that is not known to me,” “I can’t remember that,” etc
Aiwanger paraded in a beer tent in Keferloh in front of cheering supporters: “I predict that Bavaria will continue to be governed by the CSU and the Free Voters
We will be strengthened by this campaign.” He said the coverage of him was a “dirty piece of work.”
when it formed a coalition with the Free Voters
That Aiwanger held far-right views was never a secret
shortly after he had taken over the chairmanship of the Free Voters and they had entered the Landtag (state parliament) for the first time
Aiwanger had personally approached the then CSU Prime Minister Horst Seehofer because a CSU member had insisted he “urgently needed to get hold of Hubert Aiwanger’s school file” in order to “politically destroy” him with its contents
Aiwanger wanted to know from Seehofer whether he was being investigated and gave him the name of the CSU member in question
Seehofer assured him that this was not the case
“Did the CSU therefore already know about the politically explosive episodes from Aiwanger’s school days for 15 years—and never said anything?” concluded the Süddeutsche Zeitung
into a powerful state party that channels outrage at the nepotistic policies of the CSU
which has ruled Bavaria uninterruptedly since 1957
He has therefore often been compared to the Austrian politician Jörg Haider
who transformed the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) into a far-right party
had also publicly accused Aiwanger of using extreme right-wing methods as early as 2007
Aiwanger then repeatedly attracted attention with political positions aligned with those of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)
when he publicly railed against the “Coronavirus insanity” and boasted that he would not be vaccinated against COVID
Or when he called at rallies for the “Berlin chaos” (meaning the federal government) to be driven out or called on “the silent majority of this country” to “take back democracy.”
there are strong far-right tendencies that go back to its founder and long-time leader Franz-Josef Strauss
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was a celebrated guest at CSU retreats when he established an authoritarian regime in Hungary
campaigned in Italy for Silvio Berlusconi and thus indirectly for Giorgia Meloni of the fascist Fratelli d’Italia
who won the election in alliance with Berlusconi and the far-right Lega
the Free Voters offered the CSU the opportunity to form a government alliance with a far-right party without cooperating directly with the AfD
which would have been met with outrage and rejection by broad sections of the population
Söder is determined to continue this collaboration
despite Aiwanger’s obvious Nazi sentiments
He sees himself in a position to do so because he does not have to fear serious opposition from either the Social Democrats (SPD) or the Greens
The latter have dutifully demanded Aiwanger’s resignation
but in Berlin they are part of a federal government that is implementing an ultra-right programme of war abroad and class war at home
both the SPD and the Greens are seeking a coalition with Söder’s CSU
they are lagging in the polls for the Bavarian state elections
the Greens are roughly on a par with the AfD and the Free Voters
The ruling class needs the far-right to intimidate and suppress the growing opposition to war and social inequality
That is why Söder is sticking with Aiwanger
The signal he is sending is clear: a Nazi mindset is no longer an obstacle to being accepted into a German government
It is only a matter of time before this also applies to the AfD
there's no denying that the zoigl star is a sign from above
Medieval Bavarian brewers represented their trade by hanging the zoigl above their doors
Though the symbol looks identical to the Star of David
it wasn't meant to carry any religious affiliation
the star's points symbolized the \"three elements\" used in brewing—water
and fire—and the three known ingredients needed to make beer—water
and hops (yeast had yet to receive credit)
As brewers in the eastern Bavarian region of Oberpfalz embraced the zoigl symbol
it's only fitting that they called their product zoiglbier
Though individual batches varied depending on individual brewers' facilities and preferences
unpasteurized lagers with little carbonation
And how did these brewers alert the public that their beer was ready to drink
By hoisting a zoigl in front of their home
which turned the Star of David into a symbol of oppression
brewers were forbidden from displaying the zoigl
When the brewers' star reappeared in the years after World War II
some say it took on new meaning: a celebration of the Nazis' defeat
Because zoiglbier comes directly from a keg and expires quickly
But brewers in the area still serve the hyper-local
unfiltered lager out of their homes over long weekends
Some modern Bavarian companies slap the zoigl star on their beer labels
but don't be fooled: True zoiglbier is served only from the home of the brewer
there’s no denying that the zoigl star is a sign from above
it wasn’t meant to carry any religious affiliation
the star’s points symbolized the “three elements” used in brewing—water
As brewers in the eastern Bavarian region of Oberpfalz embraced the zoigl symbol
it’s only fitting that they called their product zoiglbier. Though individual batches varied depending on individual brewers’ facilities and preferences
By hoisting a zoigl in front of their home. 
When the brewers’ star reappeared in the years after World War II
some say it took on new meaning: a celebration of the Nazis’ defeat
Some modern Bavarian companies slap the zoigl star on their beer labels
but don’t be fooled: True zoiglbier is served only from the home of the brewer
Sign up for our newsletter and get the best of Gastro Obscura in your inbox
This 900-year-old monastery-turned-convent is home to Sister Doris Engelhard
Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders
Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders
Franciscan nun Sister Doris is one of only a handful of women working in Bavaria's beer industry
Sister Doris is excused from morning prayers so she can get an early start on her daily brewing routines
She's reckoned to be the last in a long line of nuns engaged in traditional beer making in Europe
'+n.escapeExpression("function"==typeof(o=null!=(o=r(e,"eyebrowText")||(null!=l?r(l,"eyebrowText"):l))?o:n.hooks.helperMissing)?o.call(null!=l?l:n.nullContext||{},{name:"eyebrowText",hash:{},data:t,loc:{start:{line:28,column:63},end:{line:28,column:78}}}):o)+"
\n                    '+(null!=(o=c(e,"if").call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2PreText"):l,{name:"if",hash:{},fn:n.program(32,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:63,column:20},end:{line:63,column:61}}}))?o:"")+"\n"+(null!=(o=(c(e,"ifAll")||l&&c(l,"ifAll")||n.hooks.helperMissing).call(r,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Text"):l,null!=l?c(l,"cta2Link"):l,{name:"ifAll",hash:{},fn:n.program(34,t,0),inverse:n.noop,data:t,loc:{start:{line:64,column:20},end:{line:70,column:30}}}))?o:"")+"