Overview
- Dennis Baum, a Simson family descendant and spokesman, publicly denounced the AfD’s use of Simson branding on Thursday and said he has contacted Gesa, the Treuhand successor that holds the Simson name rights, to seek removal of party materials.
- Thuringia AfD figures including Björn Höcke and Ulrich Siegmund have staged public rides and campaign appearances on DDR‑era Simson mopeds, using the vehicles as visible markers of an East‑German identity.
- Baum announced plans to travel to Germany to speak at a Demokratiefestival in Erfurt near the AfD party congress and to visit the former Simson works in Suhl, where he has already spoken in the city’s synagogue and signed the Golden Book.
- He characterises the AfD and Höcke as antisemitic and discriminatory and has demanded that the party destroy posters, T‑shirts and other campaign items that use the Simson name.
- The Simson business traces to a Jewish family whose factory was seized by the Nazis, the Treuhand process after reunification left Gesa holding the brand, and the dispute could prompt legal steps, local protests and wider debate over political use of East German cultural symbols.