Thuringia: Ministry: Ten properties owned by right-wing extremists

Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to the Ministry of the Interior, right-wing extremists own ten properties in Thuringia.

Thuringia: Ministry: Ten properties owned by right-wing extremists

Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to the Ministry of the Interior, right-wing extremists own ten properties in Thuringia. A total of 18 properties are known to be used by members and organizations of the right-wing extremist scene for their purposes, the Ministry of the Interior said in response to a request from Left Party MP Katharina König-Preuss. The ministry's response, which the MP published on Wednesday, names the properties, including in Guthmannshausen, Kahla and Eisenach.

The properties represent "meeting and event locations as well as transshipment and sales facilities, but also places of retreat," explained König-Preuss. Sometimes martial arts are trained or concerts are held. "These structures are essential to ensure that Thuringia can continue to be very attractive to neo-Nazis," said the MP. She demanded that the state government pull out all possible legal registers to take action against existing properties and thwart future purchase intentions at an early stage.

The capacities in the properties ranged from 40 to 400 people. In the districts of Sonneberg and Hildburghausen alone there are five retreats that are used for extreme right-wing purposes, said König-Preuss, the left-wing extremism expert. Not listed among the 18 properties listed by the Ministry of the Interior is a property in Schmölln bought by a right-wing extremist in early 2022.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, real estate is classified as right-wing extremist use if “right-wing extremists have unrestricted basic access, for example in the form of ownership, renting, leasing or through a relationship of knowledge and trust with the person responsible for the property”.