Alexander Gauland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Gauland in May 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theAlternative for Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 December 2017 – 30 November 2019 Serving with Jörg Meuthen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Frauke Petry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tino Chrupalla | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 October 2017 – 26 October 2021 Serving with Alice Weidel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Angela Merkel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sahra Wagenknecht Dietmar Bartsch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ralph Brinkhaus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of theAlternative for Germany in theBundestag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 September 2017 – 30 September 2021 Serving with Alice Weidel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chief Whip | Bernd Baumann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Tino Chrupalla Peter Felser Leif-Erik Holm Sebastian Münzenmaier Beatrix von Storch← | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Position established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tino Chrupalla | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State Secretary and Chief of the Hessian State Chancellery | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 April 1987 – 5 April 1991 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister-President | Walter Wallmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Paul Leo Giani | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Hans Joachim Suchan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of theBundestag forBrandenburg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 October 2017 – 24 March 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Multi-member district | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | AfD List | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of theBundestag forSaxony | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 25 March 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Detlef Müller | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Chemnitz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Alexander Eberhardt Gauland (1941-02-20)20 February 1941 (age 84) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Alternative for Germany (2013–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Christian Democratic Union (1973–2013) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic partner | Carola Hein | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Marburg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eberhardt Alexander Gauland (born 20 February 1941) is a German politician, journalist and lawyer who served as leader of the political partyAlternative for Germany (AfD) in theBundestag from September 2017 to 2021, and co-leader of the party from December 2017 to November 2019. He has been theMember of the Bundestag (MdB) forChemnitz since March 2025, having previously served on the state list of Brandenburg from September 2017. Gauland was the party's co-founder and was its federal spokesman from 2017 to 2019 and the party leader for the state ofBrandenburg from 2013 to 2017.[1]
Gauland was born in 1941 inChemnitz, a city that became part ofEast Germany in 1949 and was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt. After graduating from high school in 1959, he fled as a refugee toWest Germany. He studied political science and law atMarburg, where he also received his doctorate.[2]
In 1972, Gauland entered the Federal Press Office and worked as the Director of the Office of theMayor ofFrankfurt am Main for 10 years.[1]
Afterwards, he became the head of a department of theFederal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety inBonn and Member of the Hessian Prime Minister's cabinet.[1]
From 1991 to 2006, he worked as an editor of the local newspaperMärkische Allgemeine inPotsdam.[1]
On the morning of 25 March 2010, German ChancellorAngela Merkel publicly promised there would be no direct financial aid to Greece, but reversed that statement hours later by agreeing with the leaders of theEuro countries to send thefirst of many "rescue packages" to Greece. Gerd Robanus, Assessor in the Federal Executive of the CDU-Business Association cited this as the reason for founding theAlternative for Germany together with Alexander Gauland,Konrad Adam andBernd Lucke.[3]
In February 2014, Gauland received about 80 percent of the vote during an Extraordinary National Congress in Diedersdorf, becoming chairman of the Brandenburg State Association of Alternative for Germany.[4]
The AfD got 12.2 percent of the vote in the2014 Brandenburg state election, enabling it to enter the assembly of that state for the first time. On Tuesday, 10 July 2014 Gauland opened the inaugural session of the Landtag of Brandenburg:[5]
As part of this speech, after quotingEdmund Burke, Gauland wished the other members of parliament "all the strength and the courage, to tackle the tasks now ahead of them, in the interest of the voters and in the interest of the common good".[6]
Before becoming an AfD founding member Gauland was a member of theCDU. In 2012 Gauland became involved in theBerliner Kreis [de] ("Berlin circle"), a loose association of federal and state politicians within the CDU, which has been trying for years to make the CDU conservative again, because they consider that under Angela Merkel's leadership it has moved away from these ideals.[7]
He is a supporter of a line that is bothconservative on the societal level andliberal on the economic level. He opposed the idea of an aid plan forGreece, which was then plunged into aneconomic crisis. He called for the closure of Germany's and the European Union's borders, targeting Muslims in particular.[8]
Alexander Gauland said he can not detect any right-wing extremists or radicals at thePEGIDA-Demonstrations. Gauland said: "I do not see right-wing extremists. I see citizens who demonstrate out of concern about developments in Germany, who are afraid. But I haven't seen any right-wing extremists, and we are not the allies of the right-wing extremists, but we are the allies of the people who have these concerns."[9]
In May 2016, Gauland reportedly made comments aboutBayern Munich and blackGerman international footballerJérôme Boateng in a conversation withFrankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The paper cited Gauland, "people like [Boateng] as a footballer, but they don't want to have a Boateng as a neighbour". A controversy arose about this sentence. Gauland defended himself, saying he was fooled by the newspaper and it had been a background discussion, which was classified as confidential and thus not intended for publication. The newspaper refuted this. Gauland added that the effect of the statement – which in his words was meant descriptive – was distorted by the headline of the newspaper, "Gauland insults Boateng" (Gauland beleidigt Boateng). The newspaper had no audio recording of the statement, but independently written memos of two journalists. While Boateng himself stated that he was "saddened" by the statement of Gauland, the German federal government said it was "a vile and sad sentence" (ein niederträchtiger und ein trauriger Satz).[10] But also the FAS was criticised for making "mistakes".[11]
In September 2017, a video emerged of Gauland in which he said that Germany should "be proud of" its soldiers in both world wars and people should no longer "reproach" Germans for theSecond World War. He was quoted as saying: "If the French are rightly proud of their emperor and the Britons ofNelson andChurchill, we have the right to be proud of the achievements of the German soldiers in twoworld wars". He continued, "If I look around Europe, no other people has dealt as clearly with their past wrongs as the Germans."[12] In response, Germany'sjustice minister tweeted that the statements showed that Gauland's AfD was on theextreme right.[13] Gauland's comment was defended by numerous right-leaning supporters both publicly and on social media.[14]
In 2018, Gauland said "Hitler and the Nazis are just a speck of bird poop in more than 1,000 years of successful German history".[15][16]
Gauland is one of the party founders. From 2013 to 2017, he was party leader in the stateBrandenburg and entered theLandtag of Brandenburg in the2014 election.
He resigned as party leader in Brandenburg, when he led the AfD in the2017 German federal election next toAlice Weidel, with whom he's now leading theAfD group in the Bundestag. In December 2017, he was elected co-leader of the party next toJörg Meuthen. In November 2019, he resigned as party leader.
In November 2024, Gauland announced that he would run for Bundestag again, this time in his birthtown of Chemnitz in the state ofSaxony.[17] He was AfD's direct candidate in theeponymous district in the2025 election, and was elected with 32.2% of the vote.[18][19]
Gauland's life companion Carola Hein is editor of a local newspaper, theMärkische Allgemeine, which he had previously edited.[20]
As a 26-year-old man, Gauland suffered fromdepression. He also suffered aheart attack in 2007, and has been taking medication to lower hisblood pressure ever since.[21]
Gauland is a member of theEvangelical Church in Germany.[22] His daughter is a Protestant pastor and publicly distanced herself from her father's statements onrefugees in 2016.[23]
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