Night at the Bundestag: Drunk AfD Staff Members Clash

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Night at the Bundestag: Drunk AfD Staff Members Clash.

Two inebriated AfD parliamentary staff members clashed in the foyer of an office building next to the Reichstag late on Wednesday evening.

"Duel of blades and flying fists" right next to the Reichstag

It was shortly before midnight when the calm ended in the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus. According to sources within the Bundestag administration, two staff members of AfD MPs, under the influence of alcohol, came to blows in the foyer of the office building late on Wednesday evening. What started as an argument ended, according to Spiegel, in a brawl — described as a "duel of blades and flying fists."

The location could hardly have been more symbolic: the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus lies directly next to the Reichstag building. During the day, it is bustling because many MPs have their offices there. At night, it is usually quiet — but on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, it was not. The Frankfurter Rundschau describes the mood in the foyer as "saturated with alcohol." Hanging from the ceiling all around are rowing boats — part of the installation "Up and Down and Underway" by Christiane Möbus. Amidst this art, the dispute between the two staff members escalated.

Police arrived 20 minutes later — complaint filed ex officio

The incident began around 23:00; according to Spiegel, the Bundestag police were deployed around 23:20 to defuse the situation. Officers reportedly stepped in during the fight. Afterwards, the authorities filed a complaint ex officio — no one had to file their own criminal complaint because the police assessed the incident as such and acted on their own.

More concrete details? None to be had. The Bundestag press office is keeping quiet: "As a matter of principle, the Bundestag administration does not provide information about any incidents involving the Bundestag police relating to specific individuals." The AfD Bundestag faction also responded cautiously to inquiries — it is reviewing the case but has no information so far.

The party is once again causing an uproar — this time in the German parliament building.

With this wording, the newspaper places the incident in a series of scandals attributed to the AfD in recent years. According to the report, actual parliamentary operations continued without any noticeable disruption.

A few days later: Mensur in North Rhine-Westphalia

The incident in the Bundestag is not the only outburst of violence within the party in a short period of time. The following Saturday — just a few days later — two AfD politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia reportedly went through with a scheduled Mensur, as reported by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Cologne AfD city councilor Matthias Büschges and his Düsseldorf rival Jeremy Franosch had "tussled" at an event a few days earlier, reportedly also under the influence of alcohol. They then announced a duel — and delivered it.

"We fenced with each other," Büschges reportedly said. A Mensur is a fencing bout between members of student fraternities — a custom that does not normally appear in day-to-day politics. The fact that two officials from the AfD state association in North Rhine-Westphalia chose this path fits the pattern: the state association has been considered deeply divided since an escalation in July of this year.