Matthias Helferich

Matthias Helferich (born 14 October 1988) is a German politician and a member of Alternative for Germany.^[1] He has been a factionless member of the Bundestag since 2021.^[2]

Biography

Helferich was born in 1988 in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

During his election campaign, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) banned Helferich from holding political office. Helferich had described himself in messages as the “friendly face of the ns [sic],” referring to National Socialism. Helferich also called himself a “democratic Freisler,” referring to a Nazi-era judge. Helferich later said that his statements were meant as parody: "If you are confronted with Nazi accusations as frequently as AfD politicians, you compensate for that in private spheres. You ridicule it."^[3][4][5]

Helferich was elected to the Bundestag in 2021.^[2] Although a party member of AfD, Helferich never entered the party faction and is currently a factionless member of the Bundestag.

References

1. "Bundeswahlleiter (Federal Election Commissioner of Germany) - Elected Politicians in the Federal Election 2021". bundeswahlleiter. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
2. "Deutscher Bundestag - Matthias Helferich". Deutscher Bundestag.
3. "Matthias Helferich: AfD-Politiker verzichtet nach NS-Äußerung auf Fraktionszugehörigkeit". Der Spiegel (in German). 2021-09-30. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
4. Weiland, Severin (2021-08-09). "AfD und Matthias Helferich: Jörg Meuthen scheitert im Streit über AfD-Landesvize". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
5. "Going to the extreme: Inside Germany's far right". BBC. 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-12-11.