First some ground explanations. Here in Germany, the favourite fashion label of neo-Nazi’s is Thor Steinar. The brand was banned in Germany in 2004 because its logo lookred like that of the Nazi period SS. The label subsequently rebranded itself and now has a legally acceptable logo. In any case, the neo-Nazis love it and it is well-known that if you are wearing that you are almost certainly a neo-Nazi.
State parliamentary elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in German) are approaching, and the parties have been busy campaigning, including NPD, the far-right, nationalist party, otherwise known as the German neo-Nazi party. Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, one of the states in the former East Germany, NPD already has some seats in the state parliament. I was in the state a few weeks ago and as this report states, the posters of NPD are normally so high on street lights that it is almost impossible to reach and deface, for those who might want to do so.
Some left-leaning youth have decided to fight the NPD by creating the figure Storch Heinar, which is itself a play on the name Thor Steinar – Storch is the German word for Stork, and Heiner, well, makes the whole name rhyme with Thor Steinar. The stork is dressed in the Nazi colours, with a Hitler mustache.
For more on Storch Heiner check the organisation’s website and this article, for more on the stork’s campaign, see this Der Spiegel article. For more on the new face of neo-Nazi fashion, see this, also from Der Spiegel.
