The German republican party was founded by the CSU- members of the “Bundestag” Franz Handlos und Ekkehard Voigt in 1983 in Munich. At the beginning its founders thought the party foundation as some kind of protest. As a protest against the CSU and Franz Josef Strauß. The Right wing populist Franz Schönhuber became the head of the party in 1985. His version of the first republican party program was politically right-disposed. His great charisma can be seen as one of the main reasons for the success of the party during the election of the “Berliner Landesparlament” in 1989.
In June 1989 the party got 7,1 percent during the “Europawahl”. This was the first highlight in the history of the party. They made clear that they are not an extreme right-disposed party.
The number of party members grew very fast, until 1993 there were 25.000 members. Schönhuber announced that his party has nothing to do with radicalism.
However, anti-Semitism was imputed to the German Republican Party again and again. For example because of an provocation against the head of the Central Jewish Council, who was at that time Ignatz Bubis.
Schönhuber criticized that the Republican Party was as persecuted as the Jewish people in the Third Empire. This comparison is really striking because Schönhuber belonged to the SS.
He touted members for the party by propagandizing fear, xenophobia and nationalism and even accused foreigners to mulct the German citizens of their jobs. Furthermore, he held negative speeches against asylum seekers.
Analysing the voters of the German Republican Party in these days has shown that they were not only unemployed people, but also people who are afraid to lose their status.
After several conflicts in the inner circle of the party, Schönhuber was not elected again.
In 1994 Rolf Schlierer became the new head of the party. As he was really and even accused foreigners to mulct the German citizens of their jobs.
about the fact that he lost the chairmanship of the party, Schönhuber left the Republicans in 1995. From then on, he has emphasized his sympathies for the NPD in public. In November 2005 he died from pulmonary embolism.
Since then the new head of the party, Rolf Schlierer, emphasises that his party is not a second NPD. Because of the fact, that there is no success during elections anymore, several members of the party think about joining a pact between NPD and DVU. But Schlierer did not want to support that course. In spite of the fact that the party loses more and more members, Schlierer did not change his course.
Since 2007 the German Republicans act less aggressive. Due to that only single members are observed by the German protection of the constitution nowadays; not the whole party.
Source: http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/hintergrundpolitik/883190/
