Pro Germany Citizens' Movement

The party advocated law and order; lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years of age; deportation of illegal immigrants, and the segregation of students with insufficient German language proficiency.

It was critical of multi-national corporations, in particular banks and other financial institutions. German parents are promised a child check worth €5,000 and a family loan up to €20,000.

The headquarters of pro Germany were located in Berlin. The first state party was formed in Berlin (Pro Berlin Citizen's Movement). Pro NRW and Pro Cologne are only active in North Rhine-Westphalia and Cologne, respectively. The "Pro Movement", organised as an association, serves as an umbrella organisation to co-ordinate the activities of the formally independent parties.[http://www.pro-nrw.net/?p=1572 "Pro-Bewegung als offizieller Dachverband gegründet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111214036/http://www.pro-nrw.net/?p=1572 |date=2013-11-11 }} ("Pro Movement established as official umbrella association"), press release of the Citizen's Movement Pro NRW, www.pro-nrw.de, 15 June 2010. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011.

The party has been endorsed by the Freedom Party of Austria{{cite news|url=http://www.thelocal.de/national/20101024-30713.html|work=The Local|title=Austrian far-right to help German populists|date=24 October 2010|access-date=3 August 2011}} but lost this endorsement, once the FPÖ decided to not support any other parties in Germany besides the AfD.

The party's regional branch in Berlin contested the state election on 18 September 2011. Its electoral campaign has attracted considerable attention of the media. On 25 July, three days after the Norway attacks, Pro Germany supporters gathered for a "silent vigil" in front of the Norwegian embassy. Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit sharply protested against the perceived disturbance of the commemoration.{{Citation |first=Hannes |last=Heine |title=Islamfeinde laufen vor Norwegischer Botschaft auf |newspaper=Tagesspiegel |date=25 July 2011 |url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/islamfeinde-laufen-vor-norwegischer-botschaft-auf/4428580.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} Later the former state treasurer Thilo Sarrazin successfully filed a suit against Pro Germany because they had used his name in their slogan "Wählen gehen für Thilos Thesen!" (Go to the polls for Thilo's theses!").[https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/sarrazin288.html "Pro Deutschland" darf nicht mit Sarrazin werben], Tagesschau.de, 11 August 2011. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011. On 11 August, two Pro Germany campaigners were arrested. According to the police and media reports, they had charged at a migrant passerby with a hammer handle and assaulted a police officer with fists and pepper spray.{{Citation |title=Rechspopulisten dürfen nicht mit Sarrazin werben |newspaper=WELT |date=11 Aug 2011 |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/wahl/berlin-wahl/article13539632/Rechspopulisten-duerfen-nicht-mit-Sarrazin-werben.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}}{{Citation |first=Björn |last=Stephan |title=Wahlkampfhelfer von Pro Deutschland attackieren Deutsch-Syrer und Polizisten |newspaper=Tagesspiegel |date=11 Aug 2011 |url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/polizei-justiz/wahlkampfhelfer-von-pro-deutschland-attackieren-deutsch-syrer-und-polizisten/4488898.html |access-date=19 Aug 2011}}{{Citation |title=Rechte Politiker greifen Polizisten an |newspaper=B.Z. |date=11 Aug 2011 |url=http://www.bz-berlin.de/tatorte/rechte-politiker-greifen-polizisten-an-article1245998.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} Eventually, Pro Germany won 1.2% of the votes.[http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/BE2011/Ergebnis/region/a2-GI9900.asp?sel1=1052&sel2=0655&tabtitel=Berlin Final results of the 2011 elections of the House of Representatives of Berlin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016163158/http://www.wahlen-berlin.de/wahlen/BE2011/Ergebnis/region/a2-GI9900.asp?sel1=1052&sel2=0655&tabtitel=Berlin |date=2011-10-16 }}, Berlin's state elections administrator, www.wahlen-berlin.de. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011. Therefore, they failed to surmount the 5% threshold and did not win any seats in the House of Representatives.

The Pro Cologne Citizens' Movement ({{langx|de|Bürgerbewegung pro Köln}}) was formed in 1996 as an offshoot of the extreme right-wing German League for People and Homeland. The far-right publisher Manfred Rouhs and the lawyer Markus Beisicht have been active in the association from its start. In the 1999 mayoral election, the party presented Stephan Flug as its candidate who won 0.3% of the votes. When the municipality planned to erect a mosque in Cologne's Chorweiler district, the citizen's movement organised a collection of signatures petitioning against the project. They were able to present 28,000 signatures against any mosque construction site in Cologne to the committee on petitions only shortly before the 2004 local elections. With the tailwinds from the signatures campaign, the voter's association was able to win 4.7% of the votes and four seats in the Cologne city council. In 2005, a fifth councillor joined Pro Cologne's group. The electoral success initiated the expansion of the party to the state and federal level.

In 2007, the movement ran another signature campaign against the Cologne Central Mosque in Ehrenfeld.{{Citation |first=Anna |last=Reimann |title='We Want the Cathedral, Not Minarets' — Far-Right Mobilizes against Cologne Mega-Mosque |newspaper=Spiegel Online |date=19 June 2007 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,489257,00.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} They showed more than 23,000 signatures, however at least 7,000 of them were not valid and the citizen's initiative failed. In September 2008, Pro Cologne organised the Anti-Islamisation Congress,{{Citation |first=Lenz |last=Jacobsen |title=Anti-Islam Conference — Right-Wing Populists to Gather in City of Immigrants |newspaper=Spiegel Online |date=18 Sep 2008 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,577743,00.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} inviting Mario Borghezio and Filip Dewinter among others. Counter-protests and blockings prompted the police to cancel the congress and rally.{{Citation |first=Michael Scott |last=Moore |title=The World from Berlin — 'We Should take Pro Cologne Less Seriously' |newspaper=Spiegel Online |date=22 Sep 2008 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,579661,00.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} The congress was repeated in May 2009. In the 2009 Cologne local election, the party won 5.4% of the votes and was able to defend its five council seats.[http://www.stadt-koeln.de/wahlen/kommunalwahl/2009/wahlpraesentation/index.html?ansicht=7 Official result of the 2009 local election], Cologne municipality, www.stadt-koeln.de. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011. The chairman of Pro Cologne, Markus Beisicht, ran for mayor and won 4.8% of the votes.[http://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/ob-wahl/2009/wahlpraesentation/index.html Official result of the 2009 mayoral election] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090902071221/http://wahlen.stadt-koeln.de/ob-wahl/2009/wahlpraesentation/index.html |date=2009-09-02 }}, Cologne municipality, www.stadt-koeln.de. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011. At the local elections on 25 May 2014, the party lost more than half its votes and could hold on to only two seats in the city council.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stadt-koeln.de/wahlen/verbundwahl_2014/Ratswahl_Gemeinde_Stadt_Koeln.html|title=Ratswahl - Europawahl / Kommunalwahlen / Integrationsratswahl 2014 in der Stadt Köln - Gesamtergebnis}}

The North Rhine-Westphalian state intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz) has observed the grouping. From 2004 to 2010 it has presented it in its annual reports for the suspicion of right-wing extremist aspirations. In October 2005, Pro Cologne filed a suit against the state to get the mention of the party removed from the annual report. Thereupon the Higher Administrative Court has ruled that there are sufficient factual indications for the suspicions, that justify the observation and mention in the report.{{Citation |title=Pro Köln unterliegt vor Gericht |newspaper=FOCUS |date=10 July 2009 |url=http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/rechtspopulisten-pro-koeln-unterliegt-vor-gericht_aid_415839.html |access-date=19 Oct 2011}} Since 2011 the intelligence service has stated that the indications for anti-constitutional aspirations went beyond the scope of mere suspicion. According to their observations, the movement violates the human rights as specified in the German constitution.[http://www.mik.nrw.de/verfassungsschutz/publikationen/berichte.html?eID=pub&f=146&s=0bfa96 Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for the year 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331062209/http://www.mik.nrw.de/verfassungsschutz/publikationen/berichte.html?eID=pub&f=146&s=0bfa96 |date=2012-03-31 }}, Ministry of the Interior of NRW, 2011, p. 60. Retrieved on 19 Oct 2011 Several members of the party were convicted of fraud, perjury, and tax evasion in connection with falsified attendance fee calculations as city council members.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ksta.de/koeln/landgericht-koeln-haftstrafe-fuer-ehemaligen-pro-koeln-politiker-uckermann-266014|title = Landgericht Köln: Haftstrafe für ehemaligen Pro-Köln-Politiker Uckermann|date = 8 December 2014}}

The leadership of Pro Cologne decided on March 7, 2018, to dissolve the organization. The final decision is supposed to be resolved by a General Meeting on April 15, 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ksta.de/koeln/interner-zwist--pro-koeln--streitet-um-aufloesung---kritik-an-alleingang-des-vorstands-29845644|title = Interner Zwist: "Pro Köln" streitet um Auflösung – Kritik an Alleingang des Vorstands|date = 10 March 2018}}

According to FH Düsseldorf sociologist Alexander Häusler whose research focus is Neonazism, pro Germany can be considered a far-right movement on the fringes of right-wing extremism and right-wing populism. He sees ethnonationalist and racist as well as antisemitic strands, authoritarian ideas and the rejection of equality and discrimination of minorities in activities of pro Germany, particularly the campaigning against multiculturalism, building of mosques and minarets.{{cite web|url=http://www.arbeitsstelle-neonazismus.de/news/Expertise_Web_mit_Anhang_ver2.pdf|author=Alexander Häusler|title=Rechtspopulismus in Gestalt einer neuen Bürgerbewegung|access-date=8 Aug 2011}}

The party was considered a part of the counter-jihad movement.{{cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Benjamin|title=Why we fight: Understanding the counter-jihad movement|journal=Religion Compass|date=October 2016|volume=10|issue=10|pages=257–265|doi=10.1111/rec3.12208|url=https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/80734/2/main_document_revised.pdf|quote=…the counter‐Jihad scene incorporates the 'defence leagues' in Australia, Denmark, England, Finland, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Serbia and Sweden, groups such as Pro‐Cologne and the Citizens' Movement Pax Europa in Germany, Generation Identity in France, the 'Stop the Islamization' networks in Europe and the United States, the American Freedom Defense Initiative and the International Civil Liberties Alliance. (Goodwin, 2013: 3)}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110616051643/http://www.bundeswahlleiter.de/de/parteien/downloads/parteien/Buergerbewegung_pro_Deutschland.pdf] Bürgerbewegung pro Deutschland at the Federal Returning Officer's website
• [http://www.arbeitsstelle-neonazismus.de/news/Expertise_Web_mit_Anhang_ver2.pdf] Alexander Häusler: Rechtspopulismus in Gestalt einer neuen Bürgerbewegung

• {{Commons category-inline|Bürgerbewegung pro Deutschland}}

{{Parties of Germany}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Pro-movement

Category:2005 establishments in Germany

Category:2017 disestablishments in Germany

Category:Far-right political parties in Germany

Category:German nationalist political parties

Category:Political parties established in 2005

Category:Political parties disestablished in 2017

Category:Right-wing populism in Germany

Category:Counter-jihad