Action Group of Independent Germans (, or AUD) was the name of a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

- neutralist party in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. It was founded in May 1965 as a successor of various anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

nationalist groups and parties in West Germany. By the end of the 1960s, it approached the political demands of the

extra-parliamentary opposition An extra-parliamentary opposition, also referred to as simply extra-parliamentary or extraparliamentary, is a political movement opposed to a ruling government or political party that chooses not to engage in elections. Many social movements could ...

(APO), particularly its

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

, claiming the title of Germany's first environmentalist party. On 27 April 1980 it would eventually merge into the then-new and still very diverse Greens for which the AUD's long-time leader,

August Haußleiter August Haußleiter (5 January 1905 – 8 July 1989) was a German politician and journalist. After his exclusion from the Bavarian Christian Social Union in 1949 he spent three decades as a right-wing political activist, on many occasions positi ...

, would end up serving on the federal board.

History

The AUD was founded on 15/16 May 1965 in

Homberg (Efze) Homberg () is a small town in the northern part of Hesse, a state in central Germany, with about 15,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Schwalm-Eder district. In 2008, the town hosted the 48th Hessentag state festival. Geography Homberg lies in ...

and brought together "nationalists who generally clearly distanced themselves from the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, liberals and

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

" from the three right-wing nationalist groups German Community (DG), (DFP) and parts of the Association of the German National Assembly (VDNV) as well as the readership of the newspaper ''Neue Politik''. The reason for the founding of the AUD was the lack of success of nationalist-neutralist parties in the Federal Republic until the early 1960s. The AUD attempted to unite all nationalist-neutralist currents in a broad alliance. In doing so, it rejected the ideology of the

National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany (, NPD), officially called The Homeland () since 2023, is a Far-right politics, far-right, Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi and Ultranationalism, ultranationalist political party in Germany. It was founded in 1964 as ...

(NPD) because it seemed to be too backward-looking and too closely aligned with the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

. The AUD was initially largely unsuccessful with this strategy in elections.

Notable members

(1905–1989), nationalist and environmentalist politician as well as journalist. Founding member and leader of the AUD (1968-1980). *

Hjalmar Schacht Horace Greeley Hjalmar Schacht (); 22 January 1877 – 3 June 1970) was a German economist, banker, politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank during the ...

(1877–1970), economist, banker, and politician who served as the minister of economics of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

(1934-1937). Founding member. * Baldur Springmann (1912–2003), Ex-Nazi, environmentalist, and organic farmer. Leader of the AUD state section in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

during the 70s. * Herbert Rusche (1952–2024), LGBT rights activist. Member of the AUD

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

district board. *

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

(1921–1986), artist, teacher, and art theorist. Candidate for the AUD in the 1976 federal election. * (born 1939), engineer, trade unionist, and politician. Leader of the AUD state section in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. * Bernd Grimmer (1950–2021), later

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) member and

MdB Member of the German Parliament () is the official name given to a deputy in the German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In German a m ...

References

Literature

* Stöss, Richard. ''Parteien-Handbuch Band 1: AUD bis EFP - Die Parteien der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949-1980''. Westdeutscher Verlag. ISBN 3-531-11570-7 1960 establishments in Germany German nationalist political parties Political parties established in 1965 Political parties disestablished in 1980 {{Germany-party-stub