Protests in Göppingen: Right-wing radicals mobilize for a demonstration on July 5th.

Protests in Göppingen: Right-wing radicals mobilize for a demonstration on July 5th.

On July 5, 2025, a demonstration will be organized in Göppingen by the group “Baden Württemberg stands up”. This group, which has been active since spring 2023, has now established itself on social media such as Facebook and Telegram to mobilize protests against the Corona measures. The content of their channels is characterized by criticism of the pandemic measures, anti-vaccination and the relativization of Corona. It is also clear that they are spreading right-wing extremist narratives, which include, among other things, hatred of the Greens and racist views about refugees. These developments are alarming and highlight the extreme forces mobilizing in the region.

The demonstration in Göppingen is not the first of its kind. On March 22, 2025, “Baden Württemberg stands up” and “Politics and Media Hand in Hand” organized the first “We for Germany” demonstration in Stuttgart. This and subsequent protests, including events in Balingen and Reutlingen, attracted a large number of participants, including apparently neo-Nazi groups. In Stuttgart there were around 200 people, while participation in Balingen and Reutlingen was 29 and 40 respectively. Extremist gestures, such as the Hitler salute, were documented in a video of the Reutlingen demonstration. The organizer Kevin Brügmann subsequently distanced himself from extremism and the neo-Nazi participants, but emphasized that the organization had not scheduled any further meetings under the title “Together for Germany”.

Current threats in Stuttgart

Several large demonstrations have been registered for next Saturday in downtown Stuttgart. One of these demos is organized by groups that are on the fringe of the “lateral thinking” movement and that are classified as right-wing extremist by the constitutional protection authorities. These include, for example, “Pforzheim Revolte”, “Zellern-Jugend Aktiv”, “Unitas Germanica” and “Der Störtrupp”. These groups have only gained importance in the last year and are calling for people to join the “Together for Germany” demonstration.

The demonstrations in Stuttgart are part of a larger pattern that includes 16 such events nationwide. The organizers of these demos come from the fringe areas of the “lateral thinker” movement, which, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, do not have a clear extremist background. Nevertheless, this is worrisome in attracting right-wing extremists and increasing the propensity to mobilize extremist views in public spaces. According to reports, the number of participants in Ulm and Göppingen is expected to be lower than at previous protests, but the risk remains that right-wing extremist propaganda will spread here too.

Tensions within the protest movement

The split from “Together for Germany” is an extraordinary step within the lateral thinking protest movement and has not yet been clearly explained. The organizers generally spoke of disagreements. These internal tensions may have been caused in part by rising frustration with neo-Nazism and anti-fascist counter-protest. What is striking is the public distancing from neo-Nazi participants, which is new in this context, but it remains unclear to what extent this is also accompanied by a substantive departure from extreme right-wing narratives.

A panel discussion will also be announced in Ulm, which will be organized by “The International Schiller Institute” and “Munich stands up”. Prominent participants such as Jürgen Todenhöfer and Major Florian Pfaff (ret.) have agreed to this, which further increases concerns about the continued spread of extremist ideologies in the region. The BüSo party, part of the LaRouche network, is also criticized for its anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives, which underlines the diversity of problematic content.