Bjorn Hocke (1 April 1972-) was Leader of the Alternative for Germany in Thuringia from February 2013. He also served in the Thuringia landtag from 5 December 2014.
Biography[]
Bjorn Hocke was born in Lunen, Westphalia, West Germany in 1972, the grandson of expelled Germans from East Prussia. He worked as a history teacher before joining the CDU/CSU's youth wing and going on to co-found the Alternative for Germany branch in Thuringia in 2013 and being elected to the landtag in 2014. He founded the far-right Der Fluegel ("the Wing") faction of the party, which represented 40% of the AfD's national membership. Hocke espoused voelkisch and fascist views, holding views similar to the National Democratic Party of Germany. Hocke opposed the entry of refugees and migrants into Germany, advocated for the return of national currencies, called for the reinstatement of the Prussian "three-child family", supported the "natural gender order", opposed the mainstreaming of students with disabilities, opposed school sexual education, advocated for the legalization of Holocaust denial by repealing anti-unconstitutional propaganda and anti-hate speech laws, and called Berlin's Holocaust memorial a "memorial of shame". This last view led to the majority of the AfD's leadership calling for his expulsion from the party, but a May 2018 tribunal allowed him to remain in the party. In March 2020, he used a reference to the Auschwitz concentration camp to attack rival party members.