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CRIME

Mourners gather in Hesse for funeral of murdered CDU politician

Hundreds of people, including Hesse’s state premier Volker Bouffier, gathered on Thursday to pay their respects to politician Walter Lübcke who was shot dead at his home.

Published: 14 June 2019 09:47 CEST
Mourners gather in Hesse for funeral of murdered CDU politician
The CDU's Volker Bouffier speaks at the funeral of Walter Lübcke. Photo: DPA

Mystery still surrounds the unsolved murder of the prominent local politician, who was a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

The 65-year-old was shot in the head at close range on the terrace of his home in Kassel, around 160 kilometres northeast of Frankfurt, just after midnight on Sunday, June 2nd.

At his funeral service held in the Martinskirche in Kassel, state government head Bouffier, also of the CDU party, said: “It is a sad, painful and almost incomprehensible occasion that brings us together.”

More than 1,300 people came together to bid farewell to Lübcke, who led the district government in Kassel, reported Spiegel.

In an emotional ceremony, Christoph Lübcke, one of the CDU politician's two sons, said: “Dear Papa, we must say goodbye to you today after your inconceivable death.”

READ ALSO: Politician in Hesse killed with shot to the head

The nation has been left shocked by the brutal murder of the politician, who was vocally pro-migrant.

Lübcke had spoken out in defence of migrants at the height of Europe's refugee crisis in 2015, drawing the fury of the far-right.

Investigators say it is still unclear why Lübcke was killed, but a possible political motive has not been ruled out, given the politician had previously received numerous death threats.

At the service Lübcke was remembered for his positive contribution to the community in Kassel.

Bouffier said: “Today, we remember Walter Lübcke first and foremost as a human being.”

Police and the Bundeswehr (German army) held an honorary guard at Lübcke's coffin.

A white rose lies on the coffin. Photo: DPA

Online hate posts

However, the circumstances of the politician's death could not be ignored.

“With the cruelty of the deed comes the uncertainty,” said Martin Hein, bishop of the Protestant Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck. “Who was it that put an end to this life in cold blood?”

Members of the German government last week slammed online hate comments cheering the unsolved murder of Lübcke.

Tributes to Lübcke and articles reporting his death sparked an avalanche of comments on social networks, many welcoming the murder – something that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said was “repugnant”.
 
“It is simply repugnant to see how some people in the social networks are making fun of this man's death – welcoming it and applauding it,” Steinmeier said at an event in Dortmund last week.

Hein addressed the online commetns at the funeral, saying that Lübcke's dignity must be respected, including on the internet.

Flags of mourning

On Thursday government buildings across Hesse flew flags at half mast out of respect for Lübcke.

Meanwhile, inquiries are continuing into Lübcke's death.

Investigators are looking into 213 tip-offs and lines of inquiry, according to the state criminal investigation office.

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POLITICS

ANALYSIS: What’s at stake in Germany’s eastern state elections?

After success in Thuringia and Saxony, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) may well come in first in another eastern state election this Sunday. We spoke with a political scientist to analyse what's at stake as Brandenburg goes to the polls.

Published: 19 September 2024 09:11 CEST
ANALYSIS: What's at stake in Germany's eastern state elections?

German politics’ “eastern September” is set to finally end Sunday – with more ruminations and reflections likely to come about the recent fortunes of the far-right AfD at the ballot box.

If current polls are anything to go by, the AfD could come in first in the eastern state encircling Berlin – which counts Potsdam as its capital.

After overtaking the governing Social Democrats (SPD) in a recent shock poll, the party is currently at around 28 percent, compared to the SPD on 25 percent. The centre-right Christian Democrats come in at 16 percent in the latest poll and the left-populist Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – named after its founder – charts in at 14 percent.

The remaining parties come in much lower – with the Greens, Left and liberal Free Democrats all facing possible ejection from the state parliament.

Another victory for the AfD – or even a strong showing should the SPD still manage a narrow surprise win – will certainly boost the far-right’s confidence, after it came in first in Thuringia and second in Saxony earlier this month, following state elections that saw all three of Germany’s federally governing parties take massive losses.

Thuringia and Saxony results will likely hang over Brandenburg on Sunday – with Germany’s governing parties, many everyday Germans, and foreigners all watching with some trepidation. Here’s what to watch out for following the Brandenburg result.

READ ALSO: ‘Political earthquake’ – What the far-right AfD state election win means for Germany 

A newly confident AfD insists it must be part of government

The AfD has repeatedly argued that it must be considered as a possible coalition partner to join German governments – whether at the federal, state, or local level. 

“There are no politics without the AfD,” its co-leader Tino Chrupalla said following the Thuringia results. However, all other parties have explicitly refused to work with the AfD to form a governing coalition – meaning that as high as its results this month have been, they fall well short of the absolute majority that would be required to govern alone.

READ ALSO: ‘We need change’: Germany’s far-right eyes power after state election win

However, its getting more difficult to form coalitions to keep the AfD out, with the centre-right CDU in Thuringia even open to governing with the leftwing populist BSW after mainstream parties like the Greens and FDP were thrown out of state parliament entirely.

University of Mainz political scientist Kai Arzheimer, who specialises in the German far-right, says whether the far-right ever get into a German government or not depends mostly on whether – and how – the CDU is willing to work with the AfD.

Thuringia election results on a screen

People watch the first exit polls results for Thuringia’s state elections come in at the State Parliament in Erfurt on September 1st, 2024. Photo by Joerg CARSTENSEN / AFP

“For the time being, it should be able to form coalitions against the AfD, even if they are rather awkward,” says Arzheimer, who adds that even the different regional chapters of the CDU may have different opinions about working with the AfD.

“Within the eastern state parties of both the CDU and the FDP, there seems to be some appetite for coming to an arrangement with the AfD. While a formal coalition would probably split either party, we have already seen some tentative moves towards an informal cooperation.”

Ultimately, the Brandmauer or “firewall” concept in German politics – in which all other parties refuse to work with the AfD – may end up coming under increasing stress on the back of eastern state election results, where governing with the far-right no longer becomes unthinkable.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Could the far-right AfD ever take power in Germany?

What the mainstream parties take from eastern election results

It’s probably no coincidence that Germany’s ruling government decided to re-institute border controls at its land borders with other EU states shortly after the AfD topped the Thuringia state poll, according to Arzheimer, who says the elections are just the latest in a number of things at work when if comes to Germany’s migration debate.

“The border controls, the plans for the stricter enforcement of repatriation orders, and most of all the government’s harsher rhetoric are as much a reaction to Saxony and Thuringia as they are an attempt to control the fallout from the Solingen knife attack and a response to the whole ‘debate’ on immigration,” he says.

“Many experts seem to agree that they are neither practical nor that useful, and introducing them more or less overnight smacks of a degree of panic.”

READ ALSO: Should foreign residents in Germany be concerned about far-right AfD win?

Polls conducted following the election found that migration and internal security issues were big drivers of the AfD vote – despite these being issues for the national, rather than regional, government. 

Of the AfD voters in Thuringia, more than 70 percent said either migration or crime and internal security played the largest role in influencing their vote. Slightly less than ten percent said social security. Despite the AfD’s pro-Russian views, only three percent of AfD voters in Thuringia said Germany’s support of Ukraine decisively influenced their votes.

Besides the mainstream parties like the SPD reacting with spur-of-the-moment migration policies, the Brandenburg result may end up putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz from within his own SPD.

Brandenburg SPD’s Dietmar Woidke may still be able to hold onto the premiership, but he has said he will resign if he doesn’t beat the AfD outright. Should he lose, calls may grow louder within the SPD for Scholz to resign himself – or at least declare that he won’t stand as a chancellor candidate again.

READ ALSO: How an explosive row over immigration has divided Germany

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