Holger Apfel
{{short description|German politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{expand German|topic=bio|date=December 2021|Holger Apfel}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Holger Apfel
| honorific-suffix =
| image = 2013-12-17 - Holger Apfel - Sächsischer Landtag - 1212.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany
| term_start = 13 November 2011
| term_end = 19 December 2013
| predecessor = Udo Voigt
| successor = Udo Pastörs
| office3 = Leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany of Saxony
| term_start3 = 2009
| term_end3 = 2012
| predecessor3 = Winfried Petzold
| successor3 = Mario Löffler
| office5 = Leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany in the Landtag of Saxony
| term_start5 = 19 October 2004
| term_end5 = 24 December 2013
| predecessor5 = Position established
| successor5 = Johannes Müller
| office6 = Member of the Landtag of Saxony
| term_start6 = 19 October 2004
| term_end6 = 17 January 2014
| successor6 = Holger Szymanski
| constituency6 = NPD List
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|12|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, West Germany (now Germany)
| birthname =
| nationality = German
| party = National Democratic Party (until December 2013)
| spouse = {{marriage|Jasmin Apfel||March 2017|end=separated}}
| children = 3
| committees =
| website =
}}
Holger Apfel (born 29 December 1970) is a German politician who was the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) from 2011 to 2013. He was a member of the Saxon Parliament between 2004 and 2014, serving as the chairman of the NPD parliamentary group and a member of the presidium of the parliament.
Apfel became the NPD's national leader in 2011. On 19 December 2013, he resigned with immediate effect from his leadership positions at both the national and the state level, before leaving the party entirely five days later. He resigned from the Saxon Parliament on 17 January 2014. He was parodied as the leader of the NDP in the 2015 film Look Who's Back as the character "Ulf Birne".
Political activities
Apfel has a long history of activism with the NPD, starting in the 1980s when he was active in the NPD's youth organisation. He was the deputy chairman of the NPD at the national level between 2000 and 2009 and deputy chairman at the state level between 2002 and 2009. Between 2009 and 2011, he served as the chairman of Saxony's NPD.
=State politics=
On 19 September 2004, Apfel led the NPD in Saxony to its biggest electoral success, winning 9.2% of the popular vote and twelve seats in the Landtag of Saxony. He became the leader of the party's parliamentary group.
In 2005, the Landtag of Saxony held a minute of silence for the victims of Nazi Germany. Apfel, along with 11 other NPD politicians, boycotted the remembrance and staged a walkout from the Landtag chamber. He also gave a speech in which he demanded a moment of silence be held for the victims of the bombing of Dresden in 1945 and called the Allies of World War II "mass murderers", stating that "Today we in this parliament are taking up the political battle for historical truth, and against the servitude of guilt of the German people... The causes of the holocaust bombing of Dresden have nothing to do with either September 1 1939 or with January 30 1933." Apfel's speech caused politicians from other parties in the Landtag to walk out in protest.{{cite news |last=Traynor |first=Ian |date=19 December 2013 |title=Dresden parliament in uproar at neo-Nazi outburst |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/22/secondworldwar.thefarright |work=The Guardian |access-date=12 August 2014}}
=National politics=
In the 2005 federal election, he was a candidate for the constituency of Kamenz, Hoyerswerda and Großenhain, and received 6.7% of the votes.
On 13 November 2011, he was elected leader of the NPD at the national level.[http://www.bnr.de/artikel/aktuelle-meldungen/stabwechsel-bei-der-npd Stabwechsel bei der NPD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121070449/http://www.bnr.de/artikel/aktuelle-meldungen/stabwechsel-bei-der-npd |date=21 January 2012 }} in: Blick nach rechts, Retrieved 14 November 2011
=Resignation=
On 19 December 2013, he resigned with immediate effect from his leadership positions at both the national and the state level.{{cite news |last=Bender |first=Justus |date=19 December 2013 |title=NPD-Chef Holger Apfel tritt zurück |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/rechtsextremismus/burn-out-syndrom-npd-chef-holger-apfel-tritt-zurueck-12718526.html |language=de |publisher=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung |access-date=20 December 2013}} Media outlets initially reported that Apfel was in poor health and suffering from "burnout syndrome".{{cite news |last1=Hebel |first1=Christina |last2=Röbel |first2=Sven |date=19 December 2013 |title=Rechtsextreme: NPD-Chef Apfel tritt zurück |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/npd-chef-apfel-tritt-zurueck-a-940028.html |language=de |publisher=Spiegel Online |access-date=20 December 2013}}
Three days after the announcement, the party presidium held an emergency meeting to discuss rumours about Apfel's private life. It subsequently issued a statement asserting that Apfel "has not yet refuted ongoing allegations concerning past transgressions".{{cite news |date=22 December 2013 |title=Rechtsextreme in der Krise: NPD-Spitze droht Apfel mit Parteiausschluss |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/rechtsextreme-npd-spitze-droht-apfel-mit-parteiausschluss-a-940575.html |language=de |publisher=Spiegel Online |access-date=12 August 2014}} Amid the threat of an expulsion proceeding, Apfel resigned from the party entirely on 24 December.{{cite news |last=Schölermann |first=Stefan |date=24 December 2013 |title=Apfel tritt aus NPD aus |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/npd316.html |language=de |publisher=Tagesschau |access-date=12 August 2014}}
Apfel resigned from his seat in the Saxon Parliament on 17 January 2014.{{cite news |date=17 January 2014 |title=Holger Apfel legt auch Landtagsmandat nieder |url=http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/holger-apfel-legt-auch-landtagsmandat-nieder-aid-1.3969953 |language=de |publisher=RP Online |access-date=12 August 2014}}
Personal life
Apfel was married to Jasmin Apfel (born 1983), formerly the head of the NPD women's organisation, Ring Nationaler Frauen. They have three children. In 2012, the couple separated and Jasmin Apfel announced that she had resigned from both the RNF and the NPD.{{cite news |date=5 August 2012 |title=Interview mit Jasmin Apfel |url=http://de.indymedia.org/2012/08/333399.shtml |language=de |publisher=Indymedia |access-date=20 December 2013}}{{cite news |date=10 August 2012 |title=Politik: NPD-Chef und Partei verlassen |url=http://newsticker.sueddeutsche.de/list/id/1348978 |language=de |publisher=Süddeutsche Zeitung |access-date=20 December 2013}} However, Apfel announced later that year that the couple were once again together.{{cite news |last=Cruzcampo |first=Oliver |date=20 September 2012 |title=Braunes Comeback: Jasmin Apfel kehrt zu NPD-Chef zurück |url=http://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/artikel/braunes-comeback-jasmin-apfel-kehrt-zu-npd-chef-zurueck.html |language=de |publisher=Endstation Rechts |access-date=12 August 2014 |archive-date=4 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204201319/http://www.endstation-rechts.de/news/artikel/braunes-comeback-jasmin-apfel-kehrt-zu-npd-chef-zurueck.html |url-status=dead }} In March 2017 it was reported that Jasmin Apfel and her husband had separated, and that she had renounced right-wing extremism.{{cite web|url=https://www.lvz.de/Region/Mitteldeutschland/Von-der-Aktivistin-zur-Aussteigerin-Jasmin-Apfel-bricht-mit-Neonazi-Szene|title=Von der Aktivistin zur Aussteigerin: Jasmin Apfel bricht mit Neonazi-Szene|work=Leipziger Volkszeitung|date=1 March 2017|access-date=21 December 2021|language=de}}
It was reported in May 2014 that Apfel and his wife had begun operating a local restaurant on the island of Majorca.{{cite news |last=Schuster |first=Stephanie |date=21 May 2014 |title=Früherer NPD-Chef versucht sich als Wirt auf Mallorca |url=http://www.mallorcazeitung.es/lokales/2014/05/15/fruherer-npd-chef-versucht-wirt/31414.html |language=de |publisher=Mallorca Zeitung |access-date=12 August 2014}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{NPD leaders}}
{{German far right}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apfel, Holger}}
Category:Members of the Landtag of Saxony
Category:National Democratic Party of Germany politicians