German family business lobby backtracks after uproar over AfD invite

Germany’s most influential family business association has shifted its stance on the decision to invite members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to one of its flagship political events.

The Family Business Association (Der Familienunternehmer) said on Sunday that the move was a mistake, following a wave of criticism from members and the withdrawal of several companies.

“The opposite of what we intended has happened,” president Marie-Christine Ostermann said in a statement published after an internal committee meeting.

“We invited AfD members of parliament to our parliamentary evening so they could hear from us that their platform is anti-business and detrimental to Germany’s economic competitiveness," the statement continued.

"Unfortunately, a false impression has been created publicly — partly due to statements made by the AfD itself — that we wanted to strengthen the party," she concluded.

The association had argued last week that engaging with the AfD directly would allow business owners to challenge the party on what they see as its flawed, anti-market policies.

At the time, Albrecht von der Hagen, the managing director of the association, insisted that "the firewall against the AfD... has achieved nothing... we are saying goodbye to firewalls."

The controversy also reopened a wider debate about Germany’s so-called firewall against the AfD — a pledge by German parties, companies, and other societal actors to effectively shut out the AfD due to their unconstitutional and inflammatory activities.

For many critics, the very act of inviting AfD MPs to a high-profile business event was seen as crossing a line that mainstream institutions had previously vowed to hold.

Several major SMEs — making up the Mittelstand — severed ties with the association and accused them of giving legitimacy to a party they view as a threat to democratic norms and Germany’s economic future.

Germany's Mittelstand companies aren't just defined by size; the word also refers to firms that embody an essentially German, stable culture of doing business.

Der Familienunternehmer

The Family Business Association is a lobby group representing over 6,000 companies. It combines the promotion of standard business policies with engagement on social issues and thorny political topics.

These include campaigns against collective bargaining agreements, against climate-friendly business policies, and for lenient inheritance tax policies.

Well-known companies that are part of the group include BMW, Volkswagen, ALDI and Robert Bosch GmbH, among others.

In another statement on their page, the group clarified their general opinion of the AfD.

"Our opinion of the AfD has not changed: We consider them unfit to govern — not only because of their internally contradictory and largely flawed economic and social policies, but also because of their vision of society — which we categorically reject," the statement read.

In the coming weeks, the group plans to consult its membership on how to confront the AfD’s rise without offering it a platform.

Politicians from the CDU, SPD and the Greens welcomed the decision in several statements given to German media outlets.

Earlier this year, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organisation based on information they had received from domestic intelligence bodies, after initially deeming it a "suspected" case.

Its assessments carry significant political and legal weight. Once a group is classified as extremist, state institutions and private actors often treat it as a potential security risk, shaping everything from surveillance powers to how banks and companies engage with it.