Fears that Extremist Plans to Set up Neo-Nazi HQ in Berlin
July 13, 2008
The businessman Patrik Brinkmann has bought a property for 3.3 million euros (5.26 million dollars) in the affluent Zehlendorf district of Berlin, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel.
Brinkmann is reportedly a leading figure in the international far-right scene with close contacts to Germany's far-right NPD party.
In 2004, the 41-year-old reportedly set up a foundation called "Continent Europe Foundation" which counts the upper echelons of Europe's far-right scene among its members, according to Der Spiegel. Former teacher Andreas Molau, a member of the NPD's national executive, is also a member of the foundation's directorate.
Brinkmann is also believed to be behind a further real estate purchase in Germany, according to the Spiegel. Andreas Molau's wife bought a sizeable manor in Rauen, a town in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, for €200,000 in May 2007. The property appeared to have been bought to house an NPD training center. But there has been considerable opposition to the alleged plans.