German court overturns ban on neo-Nazi Hammerskins group

A German federal court on Friday overturned a ban imposed in 2023 on the right-wing extremist Hammerskins Germany group.

The court in Leipzig ruled in favour of an appeal by several members and regional sub-groups against the ban imposed by the Interior Ministry.

The federal judges in their ruling said they were not convinced that a nationwide “Hammerskins” umbrella organization actually existed, and that therefore the prohibition order was unlawful.

The then interior minister Nancy Faeser had taken action against the group in 2023, banning the organization and its regional offshoots. The police carried out raids on members in 10 of Germany’s 16 federal states.

Faeser at the time described it as a “blow against organized right-wing extremism.”

The Hammerskins see themselves as a brotherhood. The neo-Nazi movement originated in the United States. Since the early 1990s, regional chapters began to be established in Germany as well.

At the time of the ban, the Hammerskins had around 130 members in Germany, according to the domestic intelligence authorities.

The Interior Ministry was however was unable to prove in court that the neo-Nazi group actually had leadership on the national level – a condition for the ministry having the power to introduce a ban.

The judges did not rule on whether Hammerskins as a group was anti-constitutional in its actions. Presiding judge Ingo Kraft explained that “the existence of grounds for a ban was not important at all” in this ruling.

Therefore, the effect of Friday’s decision on other similar association bans or even a possible ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is likely to be limited.

The Hammerskins ban is the second time that a prohibition order issued by Faeser has been overturned. In June, the Federal Administrative Court overturned a ban on the right-wing extremist magazine Compact.