Alexander Gauland

Alexander Eberhardt Gauland

Alexander Gauland in 2014
Born (1941-02-20) 20 February 1941
Chemnitz, Germany
Institution University of Hamburg
Field Jurisprudence

Alexander E. Gauland (born 20 February 1941 in Chemnitz) is a German lawyer, journalist and politician. Gauland is a leading politician of the national conservative AfD as its co-founder, its federal spokesman and as the party leader for the state of Brandenburg.[1]

Biography

Gauland was born in 1941 in Chemnitz, a city that became part of [East Germany] in 1949, and after graduating from high school in 1959, he fled to West Germany. He studied political science and law at Marburg, where he also received his doctorate.[2]

In 1972 Gauland entered the Federal Press Office and worked as the Director of the Office of the Mayor of Frankfurt am Main for 10 years.[3]

Afterwards he became the head of a department of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety in Bonn and Member of the Hessian Prime Minister´s cabinet.[4]

From 1991-2006 worked as an editor of the local newspaper in Potsdam.[5]

Founding the AfD

On the morning of March 25, 2010 German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly assured that there would be no direct financial aid to Greece, but reverted that statement hours later by agreeing with the leaders of the euro states to send the first of many "rescue packages" to Greece. Gerd Robanus, Assessor in the Federal Executive of the CDU-Business Association cited this as the reason for founding the "Election Alternative 2013" together with Alexander Gauland, Konrad Adam and Bernd Lucke.[6]

In February 2014 Gauland received about 80 percent of the vote during an Extraordinary National Congress in Diedersdorf, becoming chairman of the Brandenburg County Association of the anti-immigration right-wing Alternative for Germany.[7]

Landtag of Brandenburg

The AfD earned a voting share of 12.2 percent in the Brandenburg state election, 2014 for the first time. On Tuesday, 10/07/2014 Gauland opened the inaugural session of the Landtag of Brandenburg:[8]

As part of this speech, after quoting Edmund Burke, Gauland wished the other members of parliament "all the strength and the courage, to tackle the tasks now ahead of them, in the interest of the voters and in the interest of the common good".[9]

Political affiliation and ideals

Before becoming an AfD founding member Gauland was member of the CDU. In 2012 Gauland became involved in the Berliner Kreis ("Berlin circuit"), a loose association of federal and state politicians within the CDU, which has been trying for years to make the CDU conservative again, because they consider that under Angela Merkel's leadership it has moved away from these ideals.[10]

Alexander Gauland said he can not detect any right-wing extremists or radicals at the PEGIDA-Demonstrations. Gauland said: "I do not see right-wing extremists. I see citizens who demonstrate out of concern about developments in Germany, who are afraid. But I haven't seen any right-wing extremists, and we are not the allies of the right-wing extremists, but we are the allies of the people who have these concerns."[11]

In May 2016, Gauland reportedly made comments about Bayern Munich and German national team footballer Jérôme Boateng in a conversation with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS, Sunday edition of Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper). FAS cited Gauland, "people like him [Boateng] as a footballer, but they don't want to have a Boateng as a neighbour". A controversy arose about this sentence. Gauland defended himself, saying he was fooled by the newspaper and it had been a background discussion, which was classified as confidential and thus not intended for publication. The newspaper refuted this. Gauland added that the effect of the statement - which in his words was meant descriptive - was distorted by the headline of the newspaper, "Gauland insults Boateng" ("Gauland beleidigt Boateng"). The newspaper had no audio recording of the statement, but independently written memos of two journalists. While Boateng himself said he was "saddened" by the statement of Gauland, the German federal government said it was "a vile and sad sentence" ("ein niederträchtiger und ein trauriger Satz").[12] But also the FAS was criticised for making "mistakes".[13]

Position in the AfD

He is the AfD's federal spokesman and state chairman of Brandenburg.

Personal life

Gaulands life companion Carola Hein is editor of a local newspaper, the Märkische Allgemeine.[14]

Selected publications

Journal articles

Books

References

  1. ↑ Bewerbungsprofil für Kandidaten für die Landtagswahl 2014 in Brandenburg Alexander Gauland
  2. ↑ „Wir benennen die Ängste“ - Interview: Alexander Gauland über Themen und Ziele der AfD
  3. ↑ Bewerbungsprofil für Kandidaten für die Landtagswahl 2014 in Brandenburg Alexander Gauland
  4. ↑ Bewerbungsprofil für Kandidaten für die Landtagswahl 2014 in Brandenburg Alexander Gauland
  5. ↑ Bewerbungsprofil für Kandidaten für die Landtagswahl 2014 in Brandenburg Alexander Gauland
  6. ↑ Enttäuschte CDU-Politiker gründen Wahlalternative
  7. ↑ Gauland neuer Chef der Brandenburger AfD
  8. ↑ Gauland gibt den Staatsmann – geht die AfD da mit?
  9. ↑ Alternative für Deutschland Landesverband Brandenburg: Eröffnungsrede von Dr. Alexander Gauland
  10. ↑ Alexander Gauland - Verbannt aus dem Salon
  11. ↑ Vor neuen Protesten - AfD sieht keine Neonazis bei "PEGIDA"
  12. ↑ Gauland rechtfertigt sich für Boateng-Äußerungen, Die Zeit, in German
  13. ↑ Bei Gauland hat die "FAS" Fehler gemacht, Die Welt
  14. ↑ Journalistin im Wahlkampf - CDU im Büro, AfD zuhaus

External links

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