Udo Hemmelgarn (born 4 May 1959) is a German politician for the party

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) and a member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Life and politics

Hemmelgarn was born 1959 in the West German town of

Harsewinkel Harsewinkel () is a town in Gütersloh District in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Ems, some 15 km north-west of Gütersloh. It is the home and domicile of Europe's leading combine harvester manufacturer ...

and worked as self-reliant merchandiser. He entered the newly founded AfD in 2013 and became a member of the Bundestag, the primary law-making body, after the

2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

Positions and Controversies

Hemmelgarn denies the

scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...

. Hemmelgarn was alleged to be part of the far

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Reichsbürgerbewegung, but he contested the allegations. In 2019, Hemmelgarn organized a secret travel of four AfD members of Bundestag to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. He is a strong supporter of a "new Syria policy" in the Bundestag. For AfD that meant a backing of the Assad regime and German government support for Russian involvement in the region. In 2020, Hemmelgarn was one of several AfD delegates implicated in bringing guests into the Reichstag building who then proceeded to intimidate members of the government and other delegates.

References

Living people 1959 births People from Harsewinkel Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany Udo Hemmelgarn Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029 {{Germany-AFD-politician-stub