Alice Weidel

Alice Elisabeth Weidel (born 6 February 1979) is a German politician and has been the Leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag since October 2017. She has been a member of the Bundestag (MdB) since the 2017 federal election during which she was the AfD's lead candidate together with Alexander Gauland.[1] Since November 30, 2019, she has been the deputy federal spokeswoman for her party and, since February 2020, chairwoman of the AfD state association in Baden-Württemberg.[2]

Alice Weidel

MdB
Weidel on 1 September 2019
Leader of Alternative for Germany in the Bundestag
Assumed office
28 September 2017
Serving with Alexander Gauland
Chairman
Preceded byOffice established
Member of the Bundestag
for Baden-Württemberg
Assumed office
24 October 2017
Personal details
Born
Alice Elisabeth Weidel

(1979-02-06) 6 February 1979
Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Political partyAlternative for Germany
Domestic partnerSarah Bossard
Children2
Residence
Alma materUniversity of Bayreuth

Early life and career

Weidel was born in Gütersloh and grew up in Versmold, where she graduated from a Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands (CJD) gymnasium in 1998.[3] She studied economics and business administration at the University of Bayreuth and graduated as one of the best in the year in 2004.[4] After receiving her undergraduate university degree, Weidel went to work for Goldman Sachs from July 2005 to June 2006 as an analyst in asset management in Frankfurt.[5] In the late 2000s, she worked at the Bank of China, living six years in China.[3][6] She speaks Mandarin.[7] Subsequently, she wrote a doctoral thesis with the health economist Peter Oberender at the Faculty of Law and Economics in Bayreuth on the future of the Chinese pension system. In 2011 she received her doctorate summa cum laude and became a doctor of philosophy in international development.[3][5][8][9] Her doctorate was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.[10]

From March 2011 to May 2013 she worked at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt.[3] She was employed in 2013 and 2014 at Heristo, a Bad Rothenfelde-based animal feed supplier.[3] Since 2014 she has worked as a freelance business consultant.[3] In 2015, she worked for Rocket Internet and Foodora.[11] Weidel is a member of the Friedrich A. von Hayek Society.[12]

Politics

Alternative for Germany

Weidel joined the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in October 2013.[13] According to Weidel, she was first attracted to the party due to her opposition to the Euro.[14] She was elected to the federal executive committee of the AfD in June 2015.[15] In April 2017 she was elected co-Lead Candidate of the party.[8] She is the first lesbian to serve as a lead candidate of her party.[16]

Political positions

Religion

Weidel has stated that AfD is "the only Christian party that still exists" in Germany.[17]

Immigration

Weidel has criticized the immigration policies of Angela Merkel, stating that "the country will be destroyed through this immigration policy. Donald Trump said that Merkel is insane and I absolutely agree with that. It is a completely nonsensical form of politics that is being followed here".[14] She has called for the German government to invest in "special economic zones" in the Middle East to encourage educated and skilled persons to remain in their home countries and avoid the possibility of brain drain, but also says she supports a "Canadian-style system" which would privilege skilled, over unskilled, immigrants.[14][18]

European Union

Weidel supports continued German membership in the European Union; however, she has called for economically weak states, such as Greece, to leave.[14] And, though supporting the EU, she also believes Germany should withdraw from the Euro single currency.[14]

LGBT issues

Weidel has stated her opposition to discussion of sexuality prior to puberty saying that "I don’t want anyone with their gender idiocy or their early sexualisation classes coming near my children".[14]

She has also expressed her opposition to legalization of same-sex marriage, stating that she supports protection of the "traditional family" while also supporting "other lifestyles".[14] She has said she supports civil partnership for gay and lesbian couples, noting she is a lesbian herself.[8][19]

Controversies

TV show "political correctness" incident

In April 2017, Weidel railed against political correctness, claiming that it belonged in the "dustbin of history".[20] In response, on 27 April, TV presenter Christian Ehring of the satire program extra 3 addressed this, saying "That’s right! Let’s put an end to political correctness. The Nazi slut is right. Was this incorrect enough? I hope so!"[20] Weidel sued the channel seeking to forbid re-airing of the program, and on 17 May the Hamburg District Court ruled against her, stating that a public figure must stand against exaggerated criticism.[21] Weidel disagreed with the decision and promised to bring it to the Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court).[22] As of September 2017, no further action had taken place.[20]

Illegal immigration incident

A September 2017 report by Die Zeit claimed that Weidel had illegally hired a Syrian refugee to do housework at her home in Switzerland. The report also alleged that the asylum seeker did not have a written work contract, nor were there invoices for her work. Weidel responded in a tweet that the Die Zeit report was “fake news” and “false" and Weidel’s lawyer stated that Weidel had a Syrian stay at her home as a guest but not as a worker.[23][24][25]

Personal life

Weidel is in a relationship with a female Swiss film producer, who lives in Einsiedeln, Schwyz, Switzerland. Weidel primarily lives in Berlin, but lives part-time in Einsiedeln. They have two adopted children.[26][27][28]

Selected publications
  • Das Rentensystem der Volksrepublik China. Reformoptionen aus ordnungstheoretischer Sicht zur Erhöhung der Risikoresistenz (= Schriften zur Nationalökonomie. Band 60). Verlag P.C.O., Bayreuth 2011, ISBN 978-3-941678-25-5.

References
  1. Grieshaber, Kirsten (2017-04-23). "Germany's AfD party elects Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel as general election candidates". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  2. WELT (2020-02-15). "Baden-Württemberg: Weidel zur neuen AfD-Landesvorsitzenden gewählt". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  3. Becker, Sven (May 4, 2017). "How Far to the Right Is Alice Weidel?". Der Spiegel. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  4. Jürgen Abel (24 May 2004). "Bayreuther Ökonom: Im Wissenschaftswettbewerb eindeutig positionieren und Stärken herausarbeiten" (in German). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  5. Marc Felix Serrao (2 March 2017). "ALICE WEIDEL IM PORTRÄT: Alternative zu Höcke" (in German). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  6. Pepping, Dagmar (2016-07-26). "Alice Weidel - Hoffnungsträgerin der AfD" (in German). NDR. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  7. "Germany's far right preaches traditional values. Can a lesbian mother be its new voice?". The Washington Post. May 15, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  8. Luyken, Jörg (May 11, 2017). "'Merkel is insane': meet the woman leading the AfD into the elections". The Local. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  9. Schuster, Kathleen (2017-09-04). "AfD's Alice Weidel: The pride of the populists, a mystery to everyone else". dw.com. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  10. "Publizierte Dissertationen aus der Promotionsförderung" (in German). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  11. Andreas Clasen (27 April 2016). ""Mit völkischem Gerede kann ich nichts anfangen"" (in German). Südwest Presse. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  12. Pascal Beucker (18 March 2016). "Marktradikal und blank". Die Tageszeitung (in German).
  13. Sabine am Orde (9 September 2017). "AfD-Politikerin Alice Weidel: Die neue Rechte". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  14. Ma, Alexandra (September 22, 2017). "Meet Alice Weidel, the ex-Goldman Sachs banker who could lead a far-right party to its best German election result since the Nazis". Business Insider. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  15. Melanie Amann; Sven Becker (3 May 2017). "Neue AfD-Spitzenkandidatin Wer ist Alice Weidel?". Der Spiegel (in German). No. 18/2017. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  16. "Cosmopolitan Lesbian Turns Far-Right Agitator". 20 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  17. AfD Christian Weidel
  18. Wildman, Sarah (June 5, 2017). "The German far right is faltering. They're hoping a lesbian mom can reenergize the party". Vox. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  19. AfD campaigns against homosexuals and transsexuals
  20. Charter, David (18 May 2017). "TV show's 'Nazi slut' jibe at politician is legal, say judges". The Times. Berlin. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  21. "AfD leader loses case versus German TV show that calls her 'Nazi bitch'". Reuters. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  22. "Satiriker darf AfD-Frau Weidel als "Nazi-Schlampe" bezeichnen". sueddeutsche.de (in German). 2017-05-17. ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  23. "German far-right leader accused of illegally hiring Syrian refugee: report". POLITICO. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  24. "Far-right AfD leader Alice Weidel 'employed Syrian refugee as cleaner'". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  25. "Lead election candidate of far-right German party secretly employed Syrian asylum seeker as cleaner". The Independent. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  26. "AfD-Kandidatin Alice Weidel mit Coming-out auf der Wahlkampf-Bühne: "Ich bin homosexuell"". RTL Next (in German). 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
  27. Steiner, Thomas (2017-04-23). "Das neue Gesicht der AfD: Wer ist eigentlich Alice Weidel?". Badische Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  28. "AfD-Frontfrau Alice Weidel hat einen Wohnsitz in der Schweiz". Die Welt (in German). 2017-04-29. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
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