Freie Sachsen

German secessionist organization (e. 2021)

Free Saxons

Freie Sachsen

Abbreviation| FS
Leader| Martin Kohlmann
Ideology| Regionalism
Separatism
Saxon-monarchism
Political position| Right-wing to Far-right
Website
https://freie-sachsen.info/

* Politics of Germany
* Political parties
* Elections

Freie Sachsen (Free Saxons) is a secessionist and autonomist movement within the German state of Saxony, which seeks to restore the former Saxon Royal Family and "Saexit if Necessary" [1] It views itself as a Right-wing monarchist group.[2][3]

## History and Politics[edit]

The inaugural meeting of "Free Saxony" in the Bermsgrün guest house was an occasion to question the use of the municipal building.[4] The small party “Freie Sachsen” [5] played a key role in mobilizing for the protests against pandemic measures in Saxony.[6] The organization seeks to extend its influence from the streets to town halls and possibly also to the state parliament.[6]

On February 26, 2021, Martin Kohlmann became chairman of the newly founded organization “Freie Sachsen” (not to be confused with the party Freie Sachsen – Alliance of Independent Voters, founded in 2007) in the Haus des Gastes[7] in Bermsgrün, which describes itself as a party according to the party law. Contrarily, Freie Sachsen sees itself “in view of the state corona coercive measures” as an umbrella for a collection movement.[8] Within a few months, the organization dominated discourse on Telegram, which had 150,000 subscribers as of February 2022, and to control the radical actions of the COVID-19 pandemic protesters in Saxony.[9] Programmatically, they call for stronger cooperation with the Visegrád Group, with which they have views of security or family policy more in common than with West German federal states. The Free Saxons reject democracy and demand "to involve the Saxon royal family in shaping the future".[2][10]

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony classified the alliance as right-wing extremists in June 2021.[8] Since January 2022, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the Free Saxons as a suspected case and observed them nationwide.[11]

### 2022 and 2023 demonstrations[edit]

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a series of anti-interventionist protests and demonstrations, Putin masks were worn and Russian flags waved during the group's “walks”. The explanation of the Free Saxons: "Suddenly the unvaccinated is no longer the number one enemy!" Now "the Russians are the number one enemy".[12][13][14] Members of the party have took part in anti-interventionist protests along side other members of the AFD and the Left party, showing nostalgia for a independent eastern Germany.[3][15]

## Party Structure[edit]

### Officials[edit]

* Deputy chairmen: Stefan Hartung (NPD),[16] city councilor in Aue-Bad Schlema and district councilor in the Erzgebirge district, and Plauen bus operator Thomas Kaden;
* Treasurer: pro-Chemnitz functionary Robert Andrews (BPC), who is a city councilor in Chemnitz.

## See also[edit]

* Kingdom of Saxony
* House of Wettin
* Bavaria Party (EFA member)[17]

* South Schleswig Voters' Association (EFA member) and The Frisians

* Lusatian Alliance

* Protests against responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

* European Free Alliance

* List of active separatist movements in Europe

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Wofür wir stehen". Freie Sachsen | Die politische Bewegung für Sachsen (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
2. ^ a b Winter, Steffen (2022-01-29). "(S+) Freie Sachsen: »Das sächsische Königshaus ist bei der Gestaltung der Zukunft einzubinden«". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
3. ^ a b Hewson, Jens Kastner, Jack (2023-09-17). "Why Does Eastern Germany Love Putin So Much?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2023-10-20.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. ^ "23 | März | 2021 | Schwarzenberg-Blog" (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
5. ^ Litschko, Konrad (2021-12-20). "„Freie Sachsen" heizen Coronaprotest an: Die Einpeitscher". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
6. ^ a b "Right-wing extremist mobilization against the state".
7. ^ "23 | März | 2021 | Schwarzenberg-Blog" (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
8. ^ a b Meisner, Matthias (2022-01-16). "„Freie Sachsen" im Corona-Protest: Rechte, die eine Partei sein wollen". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
9. ^ tagesschau.de. "Verfassungsschutz: "Freie Sachsen" als Verdachtsfall". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
10. ^ mdr.de. "„Freie Sachsen": MDR-Webserie „exactly" mit neuer Folge über Propaganda und Proteste | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
11. ^ tagesschau.de. "Verfassungsschutz: "Freie Sachsen" als Verdachtsfall". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
12. ^ mdr.de. "„Freie Sachsen": MDR-Webserie „exactly" mit neuer Folge über Propaganda und Proteste | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
13. ^ tagesschau.de. "Russlands Krieg: "Querdenker" für Putin". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
14. ^ "Germans revive Cold War Monday demonstrations – DW – 09/05/2022". dw.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
15. ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac (2022-04-15). "Russia finds sympathy in Germany's east, Putin's old stomping ground". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
16. ^ Stefan Hartung
17. ^ Satzung der Bayernpartei, 30. October 2011, from: bayernpartei.de, 28 August 2018