Robert Farle (born 16 February 1950) is a German tax consultant, lawyer and politician. He had been a

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

for

Mansfeld Mansfeld (), sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became one of sixteen places ...

since

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

; after he lost reelection in the 2025 federal election, his term ended in March 2025.

Early life

Farle studied economics and business administration at the

Ruhr University The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began i ...

Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...

from 1968 to 1974. After the end of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, Farle went to Halle and founded a business and tax consulting company there in 1990. From 1999 to 2004, Farle also studied law at the

Martin Luther University Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...

in Halle-Wittenberg. After his legal traineeship, Farle was admitted to become a lawyer in 2006.

Early political career

Until 1992, Robert Farle was active in the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...

in North Rhine-Westphalia for 17 years. His roles included that of DKP chairman at the Ruhr University and on the city council in

Gladbeck Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself aroun ...

. In the 1980s, Farle was employed as a full-time official in the DKP Ruhr-Westphalia district in Essen. According to a report by

T-online t-online.de is a German news portal, owned and published by digital multi-channel media company Ströer. It reaches over 179 million visits per month coming from 29 million unique visitors. The editorial team is located in Berlin. History In ...

, he received money from the SED for years, which

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...

had personally approved. After the fall of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

and reunification, he used his old communist contacts for business purposes.

Member of the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag

In May 2015, Farle would join the AfD, and would enter the

Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt The Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt is the parliament of the German federal state Saxony-Anhalt. It convenes in Magdeburg and currently consists of 97 members of six parties. The current majority is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Free Demo ...

after the

2016 Saxony-Anhalt state election The 2016 Saxony-Anhalt state election was held on 13 March 2016 to elect the members of the 7th Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt. The incumbent Grand coalition (Germany), grand coalition of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic U ...

. Farle would not run for re-election in

Member of the Bundestag

In the 2021 federal election, he ran for the direct mandate in the

constituency without being on the AfD Saxony-Anhalt state list. He won the direct mandate with 25.1% of the first votes and thus entered the 20th German Bundestag. On September 8, 2022, Farle resigned from the AfD parliamentary group and has been a non-affiliated member of parliament since then. According to ''

Zeit Online (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

,'' he had previously threatened his parliamentary colleagues with resignation in connection with the Russian attack on Ukraine, in anger over their "one-sided accusations" against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Farle ran for re-election in Mansfeld in 2025, however he received 1.9% of the vote as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

while the AfD's Kay-Uwe Ziegler won the seat with 43.8% of the vote.

References

1950 births Living people Members of the Bundestag for Saxony-Anhalt Members of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025 Members of the Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany {{Germany-AFD-politician-stub

Early life

Early political career

Member of the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag

Member of the Bundestag

See also

References