AfD City Councilor Sues Military Over Extremism Dismissal

Christoph Heurich submitted his legal challenge to the administrative court in Würzburg at the end of April through his attorney Michael Giesen, who specializes in military law. The suit follows an unsuccessful military complaint against his dismissal, which the Bundeswehr refused to overturn.

Heurich had served in the German armed forces since 2004, rising to the rank of major before receiving his dismissal notice from the Federal Office for Personnel Management in November. The father of two faces accusations centered largely on his prominent political activity with the Alternative for Germany party.

Political Activity at Center of Case

The soldier joined AfD in 2015 and served as deputy spokesman for the South Thuringia district association. He left the party in 2021 after Thuringia’s domestic intelligence service classified the state branch as a suspected extremist organization. However, Heurich ran again on the AfD ticket in 2024 and won election to the city council in Meiningen, where he continues to serve in the AfD parliamentary group and was recently elected its chairman.

According to his legal representative, the Bundeswehr claims that Heurich’s continued involvement with the AfD faction is equivalent to party membership, even though he is not formally enrolled. The military’s dismissal relies on this interpretation to justify his removal.

Defense Challenges Evidence and Process

Attorney Giesen argues that the Bundeswehr has failed to cite a single specific action by Heurich in his municipal role that demonstrates unconstitutional aims. The legal team maintains that Heurich deliberately retained his city council seat to counter radicalization within local government bodies and ensure fact-based municipal policy.

The defense raises serious procedural concerns about the military’s investigation. The Bundeswehr apparently never interviewed witnesses who could have provided exculpatory testimony, including longtime comrades, superior officers, or political colleagues from local government. Giesen criticized this approach, suggesting the military adopted a strategy of letting the court sort out the details rather than conducting thorough fact-finding.

The attorney also highlights a contradiction in the military’s case: despite allegedly harboring doubts about Heurich’s constitutional loyalty, the Bundeswehr continued assigning him highly sensitive tasks and positions of trust for years.

Social Media and Church Comments at Issue

The charges against the major include social media activity such as liking certain posts, as well as an alleged statement made during a church service. Heurich denies several of the statements attributed to him. His legal team characterizes the accusations as vague, insufficiently documented, and presented in a manner that makes effective defense nearly impossible.

Test Case for Ampel Coalition Law

The case represents what may be the first comprehensive judicial review of a 2023 amendment to the Soldiers Act enacted by the coalition government to accelerate the removal of soldiers deemed hostile to the constitution. The new provision, codified in Section 46, Paragraph 2a, stipulates that a soldier must be dismissed if he pursues activities seriously undermining the free democratic basic order.

In response to an inquiry from the AfD parliamentary group, the federal government recently disclosed that 19 soldiers had been removed from the armed forces under this provision through mid-April 2025.

The Würzburg administrative court will now examine whether the Bundeswehr properly applied the accelerated dismissal procedure and whether the evidence supports the conclusion that Heurich’s political activities constitute a fundamental threat to constitutional order.

With information from Junge Freiheit