Fraternity, Fitness, and Fascism: Active Clubs in Germany

In the past several months, the Active Club Network, an international network of white supremacist groups that emphasize combat sport training and fitness to prevent so-called “white genocide” has established itself in Germany. At least twelve German groups are already active on social media, and the movement has plans to grow rapidly. Take a look to find out the strategy of the Active Club Network and why it has the potential to escalate in the German context.

Active Clubs (ACs) present themselves as a new brand of far-right extremist group, with clear, effective, and comparatively less overtly political messaging that aims to attract as many members as possible. Their tactics draw from and iterate on the strategies of current and historic far-right extremist movements, such as leaderless resistance.

Background on Active Clubs

Active Clubs were founded in their current form in California in 2021 by Robert Rundo, who previously organized with the “Rise Above Movement,” a white supremacist fight club. The original strategy of the movement was to covertly build a militia ready to mobilize to violence to defend the white race without attracting attention from law enforcement. The movement was conceived as an iteration on previous attempts to bring together far-right extremist movements, such as Unite the Right, and a shift away from “keyboard warriors” toward in-person action. Active Clubs have also been havens for members of banned extremist groups; several members of “Atomwaffen Division” reportedly joined Active Club Canada after the former was listed as a terrorist entity in Canada.

Rundo established Active Clubs as a brand, which supporters could participate in by creating their own chapter within the AC network. Rundo produced podcasts and essays detailing how to create an Active Club and strategies to promote it. These podcasts recommend drawing in new members with the promise of community before discussing ideology and emphasize the need to produce high quality propaganda to attract good recruits.

The movement’s ideology draws heavily from neo-fascist and accelerationist circles, however, the strategy laid out by Rundo advises against forefronting ideological points in propaganda material. Rundo emphasizes not alienating potential members by starting recruitment efforts with politics, encouraging members to begin by finding common ground with recruits or bringing them to fitness training sessions before talking about ideology. Rundo’s recruitment tactics, both online and offline, attempt to disguise, or at least minimize, overt white supremacy at first glance in order to slowly draw potential members into the AC belief system. While many ACs use far-right symbols in their logos, groups predominantly use images of club members, often in combat sport training, to promote the Active Club brand of white masculinity and fraternal community, or in their words, their mission to “make fascism fun.” Though all Active Clubs attempt to capitalize on the “Bad Boys, Good Habits” nationalist culture that defines the movement, not all strictly adhere to Rundo’s initial tactics and include far-right extremist symbols and rhetoric in their public posts on Telegram and other platforms

The AC network is now active across North America and Europe, as well as parts of South America, with more than 120 groups worldwide. Many ACs are affiliated or in close contact with other far-right extremist groups, such as “Patriot Front” and the “White Lives Matter” movement in the US. Other far-right extremist movements have also adopted elements of the Active Club strategy, such as the neo-Nazi “National Socialist Network,” which has chapters throughout Australia. CeMAS identified 126 Active Clubs, 89 of which are active on Telegram across 113 channels, as well as 37 Active Clubs without a Telegram presence:

Active Clubs in Germany

The Active Club Network was recently established in Germany, with a national channel, 11 regional chapters on Telegram or TikTok, and two logos of chapters without a social media presence. CeMAS also identified seven Instagram and two TikTok accounts associated with German ACs.

The digital presence of the network expanded rapidly; the national channel garnered more than 1,200 subscribers in the first two weeks. The exact scope of the Active Club network, both within Germany and globally, is difficult to calculate. In Germany, some ACs have created propaganda material with generative AI, making their groups appear larger than they likely are.

German Active Clubs appear to be following a centralized, organized strategy to build up chapters in the country. The national channel recently posted that the group was moving on from its “Startphase” to a recruiting phase, in which members should advertise the groups to people who are already part of the far-right extremist milieu. The ultimate goal of this plan, the post said, was to create an appealing, counter-culture reputation. Individuals already in far-right groups would join the Active Club movement, creating a subculture that would then appeal to people beyond the far-right scene and inspire them to join Active Clubs.

German Active Clubs are attempting to embed themselves as a broadly far-right campaign within the far-right extremist milieu that is open to any far-right extremist. Their professed aim is to avoid in-fighting and splinter groups, emphasizing that the network is non-partisan and that individuals can join an Active Club while maintaining their membership in “Junge Nationalisten,” “III. Weg,” “Junge Alternative,” or the “Identitarian Movement.” This open-arms attitude aligns with Active Clubs’ recruitment strategy, namely, to expand their numbers with already radicalized individuals to gain popularity among the mainstream.

So far, their tactics appear to be successful. Active Club channels have reposted propaganda videos promoting regional ACs that include references to other far-right movements, including “III. Weg,” “Junge Nationalisten”/“Die Heimat,” and “Verteidigen” Groups (aligned with “Die Heimat”):

German Active Clubs openly use Nazi symbols in their propaganda materials. Members have posted videos of themselves placing stickers around their region with the phrase “Nazi Kiez” (Nazi neighborhood) and Black Suns¹:

One German AC chapter is closely connected with a stalwart of the neo-Nazi scene, Patrick Schröder. Schröder has repeatedly attempted to modernize and popularize far-right extremism and appears to be using Active Clubs as his newest recruitment tactic. The latest issue of “N.S. Heute,” a neo-Nazi magazine, includes an article written by Schröder espousing Active Clubs as a new organizing strategy. Most recently, Schröder represented ACs at the “Junge Nationalisten”-organized Kämpfen für Europa convention, where he networked with far-right extremist organizations from at least eight European countries

Schröder is affiliated with a far-right extremist media collective based in Bautzen that also promotes Active Clubs. The collective produces racist stickers, banners, and promotional material for a variety of extremist groups and is run by Benjamin Moses, a recently elected district council member with neo-Nazi “Freie Sachsen” party.

Potential Threats

The possible impact of Active Clubs in Germany should not be underestimated, particularly given the existing extremist context the AC network is entering. The German far-right extremist milieu provides fertile ground for the rapid growth of Active Clubs—which German ACs are taking full advantage of. Not only are German Active Clubs tactically recruiting from established groups, but ACs also structure their recruitment efforts around activities that are already popular amongst extremist groups in Germany. Hiking and camping are frequently used as community-building activities by far-right extremist groups in Germany, with roots that trace back to the nationalist German youth movements of the interwar era and the Second World War.

Likewise, MMA and combat sport competitions have long been locales for far-right extremist networking and recruiting in Germany. The so-called “Kampf der Nibelungen,” a martial arts competition that brought together far-right extremists from across Germany and the rest of Europe, was held in Saxony for six years before it was banned in 2018. German ACs have the potential to tap into this existing network of extremists engaged in martial arts, both for recruits and cross-group cooperation.

Nevertheless, members of groups that espouse an ideology that fosters hate towards marginalized groups and who are trained in combat techniques will likely lead to an uptick of seemingly random violent incidents. Violent attacks perpetrated by members of far-right extremist organizations without the sanction of or planning by the group are precedented. The recent attack on politician Matthias Ecke and a campaign volunteer was committed by at least one individual with ties to “Elbland Revolte,” a far-right extremist youth movement affiliated with “Junge Nationalisten.” Members of neo-Nazi combat sports network “Knockout51” stalked, attacked, and in some cases allegedly attempted to kill, leftist activists, police officers, and protestors. Despite tens of attacks, the motives of the attack were not recognized or prosecuted as hate-motivated attacks for years. Active Clubs in Germany have already openly conducted coordinated propaganda distribution, such as stickering and banner drops, intended to intimidate immigrants, leftists, and the LGBTQ+ community. It is crucial that security agencies take note of this growing movement within Germany and its strategies to disguise its threat potential.

Jessa Mellea is an intern at CeMAS with a focus on researching online far-right extremist movements. She has previously worked at Counter Extremism Project, Program on Extremism at George Washington University, and Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health researching violent extremism.