Freedom – Civil Rights Party for More Freedom and Democracy Die Freiheit – Bürgerrechtspartei für mehr Freiheit und Demokratie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Michael Stürzenberger |
| Chairman | Karl Schmitt |
| Vice-Chairman | Marc Doll |
| Founder | René Stadtkewitz |
| Founded | 28 October 2010 |
| Dissolved | 4 December 2016 |
| Split from | Christian Democratic Union of Germany |
| Merged into | Alternative for Germany (de facto) |
| Headquarters | Storkower Straße 158 10407Berlin |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[1] |
| International affiliation | International Freedom Alliance |
| Colours | Blue andorange |
Freedom – Civil Rights Party for More Freedom and Democracy (German:Die Freiheit – Bürgerrechtspartei für mehr Freiheit und Demokratie), known asThe Freedom (German:Die Freiheit) for short, was a political party in Germany which identified asconservative-liberal[2] andclassical liberal.[3] Described asright-wing populist,[4][5] the party was known for itscriticism of Islam.[4][5]
The party was founded in October 2010 by Berlin city parliamentarianRené Stadtkewitz who had been expelled from the centre-rightChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) for inviting the Dutch politicianGeert Wilders to Berlin. The party sought the implementation of adirect citizen democracy based on theSwiss model and extensive changes inimmigration andintegration policy.[6]
Freedom was founded in October 2010 byRené Stadtkewitz in the wake of the immigration debate spurred by the then-member of the Executive Board of theDeutsche BundesbankThilo Sarrazin.[7] The Berlin city parliamentarian Stadtkewitz was expelled from theChristian Democratic Union in 2010 after invitingDutch politicianGeert Wilders of theParty for Freedom to hold a speech inBerlin. A number of other politicians who left their respective parties joined Stadtkewitz,[8] while prominent Islam and immigration critic Thilo Sarrazin refused participation in the new party, but fought to stay in hisSocial Democratic Party and stated that the immigration and integration issues had to be discussed inside the major parties.[9] In June 2011, the party expanded, founding state associations in ten German states.[10][11]
The2011 Berlin state election was the first election the party participated in. Freedom won 1.0% of the popular vote.[12]
In 2016, the party stated that its objectives had largely been adopted by theAlternative for Germany (AfD) party and was subsequently dissolved by its members. Some former Freitheit politicians switched to AfD, like the AfD-MP (as of 2025) of Brandeburg state parliamentLena Kotré.[13]
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Freedom identifies as aconservative-liberal[2] orclassical liberal[3][14] party. Stadtkewitz himself has explained that his party would be more liberal than theFDP, less statist than theSPD and moreanti-political establishment than the GermanGreens.[14]
Some of their core issues included:[15]
The program of the party was modelled on that of the DutchParty for Freedom, founded and led byGeert Wilders.[9]
Some German media have variously described the party asright-wing populist,[9][16]islamophobic,[4][5] andconservative.[17]
The party called for critical observation of imams, mosques, and Islamic schools and for a review of Islamic organizations to ensure their compliance with German laws, and condemned efforts to build a parallel legal structure based on sharia.[18]
Freedom party received support from Dutch politicianGeert Wilders, leader and founder of theParty for Freedom, who announced his intention to include the party in hisInternational Freedom Alliance project.[19] PoliticianOskar Freysinger of theSwiss People's Party gave a speech on the occasion of Freedom's founding event inBavaria.[10] In 2012, the party took part in a "Global Counter Jihad rally" in Stockholm, Sweden along with other groups such asStop Islamization of Nations (SION), and party leader Michael Stürzenberger was simultaneously leader of the German section ofStop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE).[20]
