Right-wing Extremist Membership (Overall View)
By the end of 2015, right-wing extremist groups had a membership of approx. 22,600 in total, multiple memberships being deducted. So after years of decline, the right-wing extremist scene had again seen an increase in the number of followers.
The Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD/National Democratic Party of Germany) succeeded in halting its downward trend in terms of members experienced in the last years. In 2015, the party had a membership of about 5,200. The neo-Nazi parties Der III. Weg (The IIIrd Way / 300 members) and DIE RECHTE (The Right / c. 650 members) were able to grow membership figures in 2015. Due to the splintering off of the civic movement Bürgerbewegung pro NRW (pro NRW/Civic Movement for North Rhine-Westphalia) from the local branch Bürgerbewegung pro Köln e.V. (pro Köln/civic Movement for Cologne regd. assoc.), the membership of pro NRW dropped, from a statistical point of view, to c. 500 in 2015.
The violence-oriented right-wing extremist following amounting to approx. 11,800 individuals now constitutes more than half of the overall number of right-wing extremists.
Also subculture-oriented right-wing extremists, who make up the largest group among German right-wing extremists in terms of numbers (8,200 individuals), as well as the neo-Nazi scene with a membership of 5,600 experienced growing numbers of followers in comparison with the previous year.
As one of the factors favourable to the increase in the number of right-wing extremists, the dynamic development in the so-called 'refugee crisis' and the resulting opportunities for right-wing extremists to stage campaigns may be cited. Stimulated by their own basic attitude, which is largely characterised by xenophobia and the rejection of Germany's democratic system, right-wing extremists feel challenged by such developments and encouraged in their activism. Especially in this connection, right-wing extremist protagonists managed to recruit new scene members or sympathisers, using xenophobic anti-asylum demonstrations for mobilisation purposes.
