Björn Höcke: “The AfD is the Future”

Björn Höcke is the regional spokesman for the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) in Thuringia. The clip below seems to be a campaign video for Mr. Höcke, but it’s not clear what he’s running for. He’s not a member of the Bundestag, so he can’t become chancellor. Is he running for president of the Federal Republic? Maybe our German readers can tell us.

Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:13   Andreas Kalbitz: I admire Björn Höcke as a friend, as a person,
00:16   as a politician, and as an independent spirit. He’s someone who
00:20   brings inspiration to this party and someone who evokes the
00:24   founding ideals of the AfD. Christine Anderson: I have to say,
00:28   the image of Björn Höcke created by the media has nothing,
00:33   really nothing to do with the Björn Höcke whom I had the pleasure of getting to know.”
00:45   Jens Maier: I’m convinced that he will be instrumental in helping
00:49   us out of the identity crisis that our country is in at the moment,
00:53   by creating and conveying a positive identity for Germany.
00:59   We will shape the politics and history in this country.
01:04   Without a doubt, the AfD is the future. The AfD is set to become
01:10   the only relevant people’s party in Germany, dear friends.
01:14   Something is slipping through!
01:19   The scales are falling from our eyes!
01:23   The mantle of history is within our grasp! Let’s grab hold of it!
01:30   And hold it tight and never let it go!
01:35   Hold on until the future of our homeland is secure,
01:38   hold on until the future of our people is secure,
01:41   hold on until the future of nation is secure, and hold on until
01:45   the future of our beloved fatherland is secure! Thank you.
02:14   Thorsten Weiß: Well, what makes Björn Höcke so captivating?
02:17   I think it simply has to do with the fact that his genuineness,
02:21   his unwavering character and his clear message is more authentic
02:27   than anyone else. He doesn’t just say things, he leads by example
02:31   out of deep conviction and absolute dedication.
02:35   Try to find someone like that today in politics.
02:40   Dr. Hans-Thomas Tillschneider: It is his idealism and
02:44   perhaps even when he rubs people the wrong way
02:47   on some points, but that’s exactly how he embodies
02:50   the antidote for the domination of the establishment politics.
02:55   Thorsten Weiß: Well, Björn Höcke conveys an unshakeable
02:59   courage and unconditional abandon in staying the course
03:03   out of a deep love for our people, which is exactly what
03:07   our country needs so badly. His deeply modest and open
03:12   manner makes him the kind of representative of the people
03:15   who can be a role model.
03:29   If you celebrate me, for that I thank you, but you know,
03:32   and some of you know me personally and know that I’m actually
03:36   a relatively unassuming person and introverted. So I blush easily,
03:40   but if you celebrate me I don’t feel uncomfortable because I feel
03:45   your passion. It the same passion that has brought us all here
03:49   today, which unites us. I thank you for this passion.
03:54   For this passion of service, I bow my head with humility.
 

7 thoughts on “Björn Höcke: “The AfD is the Future”

  1. Liberalism/globalism (a relationship that needs a thorough investigation) is sowing the seeds of its own demise. Its actions encourage the very thing it purports to oppose.

  2. Björn Höcke is currently running for the upcoming state elections of Thuringia in October. He is a somewhat controversial figure amongst AfD members themselves. Some of them consider him Germany’s only hope for the future, others think he should simply shut up, because with his pathos and emotional speeches he’s doing more harm than good. For mainstream media and politicians on the other hand he is Hitler reincarnated. The last part is nonsense, of course, German mainstream has just moved so far to the left that any genuine conservative seems very far to the right and is considered unacceptable, but personally I must say that I don’t like his style very much. Whether he would be competent as a chancellor or in any other capacity as a member of a government – who knows.

  3. Well, no wonder at all Höcke is considered as AH v 2.0. Although he actually speaks nothing derived from the NSPD Programme.

    His pathos and style are too much alike to that of Hitler’s – and that is what counts. In media, core is worth about nothing, image is everything. Let’s keep in mind, that German people – especially the old West-German – is vaccinated to hyperallergic levels against anything that even has a smell of Nazism. So, in Thuringia – once in the Soviet sector and the so-called DDR – he might succeed. But in the “old” BRD states – no chance. The other AfD leaders sound much more sane, civilized.

    Achtung
    [not German, though understanding the language]

    • What are you talking about.
      I love the guy, he has guts and he is strong.Sense?
      What sense you are wanting now?
      They are I. Deep [ordure] they need someone like that.All else is weakness.

      You may know some German , but you don’t understand the gravity of the issue.
      Fight or die.

    • @ Achtung
      “His pathos and style are too much alike to that of Hitler’s” – no, I don’t agree with that at all. Hitler’s rhetoric was always and without exception aggressive. Höcke is not aggressive, he simply loves Germany, its people, its culture very much and wants all of this to survive, which of course in the current situation is an uphill battle. Also, in contrast to Hitler, he is a very educated man, much more than for example Merkel, which in my opinion shows in his speeches (maybe not so much in this short clip).

      However, in the result I agree with you, this man is too emotional, shows too much passion, so at least to West-Germans like myself his speeches sound strange, because we are no longer used to it. But if one watches old speeches by Franz-Josef Strauß (a politician of the CSU, the Bavarian sister of Merkel’s CDU, who was quite successful in his time; he died 1987), one can see that this kind oft thing was normal in Western Germany, too. It’s only that most people are so brainwashed today, that they are ready to take anyone for a Nazi who passionately loves his own country and culture, and says so.

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