Munich’s most famous Hofbräuhaus beer hall has been ordered to host a rally on Friday evening of Germany’s most notorious political party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
The Hofbräuhaus in Munich’s old town is a cavernous complex of brass bands and busty waitresses. From lederhosen-wearing locals to bawdy British tourists, it is an establishment that welcomes all. Until now.
Earlier this week, owner Friedrich Steinberg tried to cancel a reservation for 420 AfD members, fearing an appearance by party co-leader Frauke Petry would damage his reputation, or that extreme left groups would damage his premises.
The party went to Munich state court and, in an injunction on Thursday, it ruled that Mr Steinberg’s concerns were not concrete enough to break the contract with the populist AfD. “We hoped that the court would decide differently,” said Mr Steinberg after the ruling. “Now we only hope the evening passes off halfway peacefully.”
He accepted the AfD reservation in April but tried to cancel after violent demonstrations two weeks ago in Stuttgart, as the party agreed an Islam-critical manifesto.
Munich police will be deployed in large numbers this evening on the Platzl, the square before the beer hall, in a bid to maintain calm.
Parallel meetings
The far-right Pegida group has registered a rally nearby, as has a left-wing, anti-fascist group. Inside the hall, meanwhile, a leading anti-racist group has booked a table and has vowed to stand up to the AfD.
For Munich natives, the AfD affair has uncomfortable echoes of February 1920 when locals were invited to the Hofbräuhaus to hear what a poster promised would be “the truth . . . about the so-called peace treaty of Versailles”.
The main speaker that evening was a failed painter turned politician, Adolf Hitler, presenting the manifesto of his new National Socialist party.
