Is AfD officially considered a "Nazi" party by German courts?

Question

In Have any prominent politicians in the West called for Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia? user @o.m. states that:

He is a member of the German parliament for the AfD, a nazi party. (Some comments questioned the characterization. So did leading AfD members, who sued for defamation and failed.) Also a prominent member of the opposition.

In comments the following lawsuit is quoted as the basis of this claim:

A German court on Wednesday rejected a request by a leader of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for an interim injunction against the re-airing of a television program in which the moderator called her a “Nazi b***h.”

The Hamburg District Court ruled that satire was secured by the right to freedom of expression, and as a public figure, senior AfD member Alice Weidel must “put up with exaggerated criticism”, the court said in a statement.

The broadcaster NDR’s “extra 3” satire program on April 27 aired a section of Weidel’s speech to her party congress a week earlier in which she had railed against political correctness.

However its not clear if the court actually believes AfD to be a "Nazi party" or if it merely allowed that particular phrase to be used in a satirical context. Have there been other lawsuits in Germany which affirmed that AfD is indeed a "Nazi party"? As a corollary, have there been lawsuits where other parties were called Nazi and the courts ruled that using such words against them is unacceptable?

Answer 1

There is no official term "Nazi party" in Germany. A right-wing party can be a "subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion" if it has far-right tendencies. The AfD is such a case [1]:

1. The claim filed by AfD to stop BfV from classifying it as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ (subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion) and investigating it based on that definition as well as from publicising a classification to that effect or the fact that it is being investigated (13 K 326/21) was dismissed.
The court found in its oral statement of the reasons for the judgement that there were sufficient indications of anti-constitutional endeavours within the party. This had been documented by BfV, according to the court, in pertinent reports and the related collections of material by “contextualising the statements considered relevant”. As stated by the court, BfV’s assessment was based on an overall view that was not objected to. The party was in the middle of an internal dispute about its future course, in which the anti-constitutional forces might prevail in the end. BfV will also be allowed to publicise AfD’s classification as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ in order to make a political discussion possible.

A right-wing party can also be called a "(subject with) extremist endeavour as corroborated by hard evidence". If that's the case, then the party has anti-constitutional, extremist endeavours and basically poses a threat to the German democracy. The AfD as a whole is not such a case (yet) [1]:

3. The claim filed by AfD to stop BfV from classifying the AfD faction known as ‘Der Flügel’ as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ (subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion) and/or a ‘gesichert extremistische Bestrebung’ (extremist endeavour as corroborated by hard evidence) and investigating it based on that definition as well as from publicising a classification to that effect or the fact that it is being investigated (13 K 207/20) was admitted in part.
The court has ruled that BfV was allowed to classify the AfD faction referred to as ‘Der Flügel’ as a ‘Verdachtsfall’. Its classification as a ‘gesichert extremistische Bestrebung’ is today, after its formal dissolution, not permissible, as found by the court.

If a right-wing party is evidently a "Nazi party", then it can get banned, thus not be a party, in Germany. One of the most prominent parties in that direction is the NPD, which, however, is not banned as it has not enough political power to pose a threat to the German democracy according to a German court in 2017 [2].

Calling someone a "Nazi" or "Nazi bitch" or whatever is – depending on the case – secured by the freedom of speech, but you can also get sued if it is seen as an insult or defamation. Calling a party as a whole a "Nazi party" can be prohibited.

[1] Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz wins lawsuit before the Administrative Court in Cologne against AfD
[2] Debatten um NPD-Verbot und Parteienfinanzierung

Answer 2

This was about a specific case. A public television program had called Alice Weidel a "Nazi-Schlampe" (which is here translated as Nazi bitch). The court explicitly referred to the context at hand - Weidel had clamoured for an end to "political correctness", and the TV host had replied with the most political uncorrect phrase he could come up with.

Alice Weidel had previously been called a "Nazi pig" on Facebook and sued successfully for libel, and has been called (literally) a "Nazi bitch" by German rapper Farid Bang, who retracted and apologized after she threatened him with legal measures. This should already show that this was about a specific case.

This is related to the AFD only insofar as the judge said it would be understandable to the audience that she is called a "Nazi" due to her AfD membership. That does not mean that the judge said the AfD was a Nazi party - they said that "Nazi party" would be understandable as satirical exaggeration of "extreme right wing party" (AfD is considered at least borderline extremist, but it seems the judge said that it would be evident to the viewer that Weidel is not literally a supporter of Nazi ideology).

its not clear if the court actually believes AfD to be a "Nazi party"

Any legal procedure negotiating the word "Nazi party" would always be about free speech/artistic expression (since the possible crime that this colloquially refers to is not called "being a Nazi party"). A relatively low district court would probably not try to determine if a party is actively engaged in overthrowing the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany (also any German judge would be offended if you suggested he based his rulings on "beliefs").

if it merely allowed that particular phrase to be used in a satirical context.

Yes. Since German law is not based on precedent, a court always adjudicates a specific case (unless there is a decision by a higher court), so the court just ruled that in this specific instance the phrase was not grounds for an injunction.

Finally, this was not even a ruling in a lawsuit. Alice Weidel wanted to ban the phrase via an preliminary injunction. Since the judge rejected this, the actual lawsuit did not happen.

Answer 3

This seems to be a complicated question, there is no oficial confirmation and deniel as well acording to this article:

Are AfD members "all Nazis" according to court order?

The Offenburg district court refused to carry out criminal proceedings against a Green politician who had called an AfD colleague a “Nazi” during the election campaign. "Journalistenwatch" now writes that according to the court, AfD members are "all Nazis".

The various court justifications show that the individual case decides when the term "Nazi" may be used against a person and when not.

On December 23, 2017, "Journalistenwatch" published an article entitled: "Court confirms: AfD members are now officially "all" Nazis!". The text is currently being shared again on Facebook.

"Journalistenwatch" commented on an article by "Focus" according to which the Offenburg district court had refused to conduct criminal proceedings for insult against a member of the "Bündnis 90/Die Grünen" (Greens) party. The Greens politician is said to have described a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a "Nazi" at a campaign event for the state elections in Baden-Württemberg.

The article from "Journalistenwatch" is marked as "opinion" - the statement in the title is a clear exaggeration of the reasoning of the Offenburg district court not to initiate specific criminal proceedings. Based on the press release from the district court, CORRECTIV explains the reasons for this decision.

The Offenburg case was also not the first in which an AfD politician had filed a complaint after being labeled a "Nazi". In two cases there were court proceedings - CORRECTIV has made itself aware of the reasons for the judgement. Designation covered by freedom of speech

According to the Offenburg district court, a conviction of the Greens member for insult is not to be expected - therefore no criminal proceedings would be initiated. The reason: Although the designation as "Nazi" would be a disregard for the AfD member, which would constitute an insult - this is covered by freedom of expression.

There would also not be a case of "abusive criticism" - especially since the term "Nazi" would also be used in everyday language as a mere, albeit harsh, designation for a politically right-wing attitude. Criticism of party, not of individual

There would be a lot to suggest that the designation as "Nazi" was an "objective, albeit harsh criticism" of the AfD party, less a disparagement of the individual AfD member. According to his own statement, the Greens politician wanted to differentiate himself from the AfD party with this statement - among other things because of the toleration of right-wing extremist party members while at the same time claiming the middle-class.

This would be supported by the fact that the statements were made in the context of the public state election campaign and the parties involved had previously been completely unknown. Lawsuit by AfD top candidate Weidel dismissed

Similar cases were brought before the district court of Hamburg and the district court of Potsdam.

For example, AfD top candidate Alice Weidel sued the NDR satirical magazine "extra3" because of the term "Nazi bitch". The district court of Hamburg also dismissed the lawsuit. This emerges from a press release.

The reason: The controversial statement was made "in a clearly recognizable satirical manner", which is covered in the context of freedom of expression. In the specific case, the viewer understands the term "Nazi" as a gross exaggeration, but does not therefore assume that the applicant is a supporter of Nazi ideology. Fine for "Nazi" insults against AfD politicians

A judgment by the Potsdam district court was different. According to an article in the "Potsdamer Latest News", AfD member of parliament Steffen Königer was called a "Nazi" by a 31-year-old at his polling station. The judge convicted the accused of insult and imposed a fine.

On request, the Potsdam district court pointed out that "the accused only had an argument with Mr. Königer and that the insulting statements only referred to Mr. Königer".