The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has filed charges against Matthias Moosdorf, an AfD member of the Bundestag, for allegedly displaying the Hitler salute in the Bundestag. This information was disclosed by investigators on Monday morning.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the incident took place in June 2023. Moosdorf reportedly greeted a party colleague in a Bundestag changing room with a Nazi salute, fully aware that the gesture was visible to others in the entrance area. Consequently, he is charged with using symbols of unconstitutional organizations.
The Bundestag had already stripped Moosdorf of his immunity in October due to this incident. Until the spring of the current year, the Leipzig cellist served as the foreign policy spokesman for the AfD faction. His pro-Russian stance had sparked controversy even within his own party, especially following substantial criticism regarding his role as an honorary professor at the Moscow Gnessin Academy of Music. In 2023 and 2024, he reportedly performed several concerts in Russia that were allegedly funded by the Kremlin.
In May, the faction decided to take action, effectively sidelining Moosdorf as a foreign expert within the Bundestag group and replacing him with Markus Frohnmaier, an ally of party leader Alice Weidel.
This development highlights ongoing tensions within the AfD regarding stances on foreign policy and party loyalty, as well as the broader implications of nationalism and historical sensitivity in contemporary German politics.