Recent developments concerning language protection organisations and right-wing extremism in Germany

The debate about the use of anglicisms in German has become increasingly intense since the early 1990s. At the same time, a number of organisations for the protection of the language have emerged in Germany, and investigations have shown that right-wing groups are attracted to these organisations, and vice versa. Two language protection organisations are investigated here: the publisher of the quarterly Deutsche Sprachwelt and the internet-based ‘Deutscher Sprachkampf’. Both have obvious connections to right-wing organisations and individuals, and this article shows how close these contacts are. It explores the extent to which this might relate to German unification, since there seems to be a relationship between the increasing emergence of language protection organisations and the formation of a new German federation.