Alice Weidel
Alice Elisabeth Weidel (born 6 February 1979) is a German politician who has been serving as co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party alongside Tino Chrupalla since June 2022.[1] Since October 2017, she has held the position of leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Weidel became a member of the Bundestag (MdB) in the 2017 federal election, where she was the AfD's lead candidate alongside Alexander Gauland.[2] In the 2021 federal election, she once again served as their lead candidate, alongside Tino Chrupalla.[3] From February 2020 to July 2022, Weidel held the position of chairwoman of the AfD state association in Baden-Württemberg.[4]
Alice Weidel
Position established
Bernd Gögel
Dirk Spaniel
Markus Frohnmaier
Emil Sänze
multi-member district
Sarah Bossard
2 (Adopted)
Early life and career[edit]
Weidel was born in Gütersloh and grew up in Versmold, where she graduated from a Christliches Jugenddorfwerk Deutschlands (CJD) Gymnasium in 1998.[5] She studied economics and business administration at the University of Bayreuth and graduated as one of the best in the year in 2004.[6] After receiving her undergraduate degree, Weidel went to work for Goldman Sachs Asset Management from July 2005 to June 2006 as an analyst in Frankfurt.[7][8] In the late 2000s, she worked at the Bank of China, lived six years in China[5][9] and speaks Mandarin.[10] Subsequently, she wrote a doctoral thesis with the health economist Peter Oberender at the Faculty of Law and Economics in Bayreuth on the future of the Chinese pension system. In 2011, she received a doctorate in international development.[5][7][11][12] Her doctorate was supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.[13]
From March 2011 to May 2013, she worked as Vice President at Allianz Global Investors in Frankfurt.[8][7] Since 2014, she has worked as a freelance business consultant.[5] In 2015, she worked for Rocket Internet and Foodora.[14] Weidel is a member of the Friedrich A. von Hayek Society.[15]
Controversies[edit]
TV show "political correctness" incident[edit]
In April 2017, Weidel railed against political correctness, claiming that it belonged in the "dustbin of history".[32] In response, on 27 April, TV presenter Christian Ehring of the satire program extra 3 addressed this, saying "That's right! Let's put an end to political correctness. The Nazi slut is right. Was this incorrect enough? I hope so!"[32] Weidel sued the channel seeking to forbid re-airing of the program, and on 17 May the Hamburg District Court ruled against her, stating that a public figure must tolerate exaggerated criticism.[33] Weidel disagreed with the decision and promised to bring it to the Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court).[34] As of September 2017, no further action had taken place.[32]
Illegal immigration incident[edit]
A September 2017 report by Die Zeit claimed that Weidel had illegally hired a Syrian refugee to do housework at her home in Switzerland. The report also alleged that the asylum seeker did not have a written work contract, nor were there invoices for her work. Weidel responded in a tweet that the Die Zeit report was "fake news" and "false" and Weidel's lawyer stated that Weidel had a Syrian stay at her home as a guest but not as a worker.[35][36][37]
Border revisionism[edit]
In June 2023, Weidel commented on the election polls results in former East Germany, stating that AfD has a great support in this region. However, she referred to the region as Mitteldeutschland (central Germany), suggesting that the so-called Recovered Territories are part of Germany, which caused controversies among the Polish politicians.[38]
Potsdam meeting incident[edit]
In January 2024, it emerged that Roland Hartwig - who had been appointed as an advisor to Weidel - attended a controversial meeting with German far-right activists in which plans to deport millions of people living in Germany, including some with German citizenship, were presented and discussed. In the wake of this, Weidel fired Hartwig as her advisor.[39]
Personal life[edit]
Weidel is in a relationship with Sarah Bossard, a woman who lives in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, and is originally from Sri Lanka; she works as a film producer. Weidel lives in both Berlin and Einsiedeln, and stated in 2017 that she primarily resides in the former. She and her partner are in a civil union and have two adopted children.[40][41][42]