Overview
- The Bezirk Oberfranken formally presented the silver Ehrenmedaille to AfD politician Michael Genniges at a ceremony on May 28, with CSU Bezirkstagspräsident Henry Schramm handing over the medal.
- A CSU-majority Bezirkstag had backed an AfD nomination in November 2025 and several local CSU councillors, including Schramm, voted for the motion that led to the award.
- Opposition parties and civic groups, including the Greens, the SPD and the Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft, say the public honour risks normalising the AfD and note the DIG’s view that Genniges shifted to the right after 2018.
- The Bezirk says no formal rule barred the award and local CSU defenders argue the vote recognised Genniges’s cultural and volunteer work, while also saying they will reassess the decision if new facts emerge.
- The incident tests Markus Söder’s declared ‘Brandmauer’ between the CSU and the AfD and is likely to lead to clearer vetting rules for civic honours and closer scrutiny of local party practice.