Right-wing extremists are making use of premises with addresses largely in the states that made up formerly communist East Germany, the Interior Ministry in Saxony-Anhalt reported on Monday.
The information, drawn from reports by the domestic intelligence agencies in 2022, found that 61% of the premises used by right-wing extremists lay in Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin.
Precisely those states, with the exception of West Berlin, went to make up the German Democratic Republic, generally known as East Germany up to 1990.
The number of premises recorded in the intelligence agencies report had almost doubled to 136, the Saxony-Anhalt ministry said.
These states reached a security cooperation arrangement in 2020 to exchange information on this issue. A handout has now been created to reflect the situation. It also makes recommendations to municipalities and property owners on how to head off attempts by right-wing groups to buy property.
All 16 German states maintain their own domestic intelligence agencies, which act in concert with the federal domestic intelligence agency. The agencies monitor extremist organizations and persons.