Dec 19, 2025, 10:54Dec 19, 2025, 10:54
In Germany, the Federal Administrative Court overturned a ban on the right-wing extremist group “Hammerskins Deutschland”. The court in Leipzig upheld the complaints of several members and regional subgroups against the Interior Ministry’s ban order.
The reason why the ban does not stand is because the ministry was unable to provide enough evidence. (symbol image)Image: EPA
The federal judges were unable to recognize that a Germany-wide “Hammerskins” umbrella organization actually existed that could have been banned. The ban notice is unlawful.
The then German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser took action against the “Hammerskins” in 2023. She banned the association and its regional branches. The organization is directed against the constitutional order. The police raided members in 10 of the 16 federal states. Faeser spoke of a “hard blow against organized right-wing extremism”.
Nancy Faeser was Germany’s Interior Minister from 2021 to 2025.Image: keystone
Around 130 members in Germany
The “Hammerskins” see themselves as a brotherhood. The neo-Nazi movement comes from the USA. Since the beginning of the 1990s, regional chapters have gradually been founded in Germany. At the time of the ban, the “Hammerskins” had around 130 members in Germany, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The reason why the ban does not stand is because the ministry was unable to provide enough evidence that there actually was a Germany-wide, tone-setting level within the neo-Nazi group. It was not examined whether the “Hammerskins” were unconstitutional.
“The existence of reasons for the ban was not at all important,” said presiding judge Ingo Kraft in the reasons for the judgment. In this respect, the effect of this decision is likely to be limited to other club bans or even a possible ban procedure for the right-wing populist AfD party.
According to the association law, the Federal Ministry of the Interior can only ban associations that operate supra-regionally. If a group’s sphere of activity remains limited to one federal state, the states are responsible for any bans.
The “Hammerskins” were founded in 1986 in the US state of Texas.Image: imago stock&people
Regional branches of the “Hammerskins” autonomous
The plaintiffs had vehemently denied that there was a national level and a federal leader. The regional chapters were autonomous. A meeting called the “National Officers Meeting” was held four times a year. However, no decisions were made there that the regional groups were subject to. There were also no nationally uniform symbols used. The plaintiffs admitted that their meetings, concerts and communication were very conspiratorial.
With the “Hammerskins” ban, a ban issued by the Social Democrat Faeser has now been overturned for the second time. In June, the Federal Administrative Court overturned the ban on the right-wing extremist magazine “Compact”.
Country bans possible
The regional chapters of the “Hammerskins” can now continue. It is not certain that it will stay this way forever. “In cases of this type, however, the responsible federal and state authorities are free to ban individual chapters if reasons for the ban can be established,” said the Federal Administrative Court. (sda/dpa)
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