Shield and Sword (festival)
| Shield and Sword | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Ultra Nationalist metal |
| Dates | Three days, starting from Friday |
| Location(s) | Ostritz, Saxony, Germany |
| Years active | 2018 - present |
| Founders | Thorsten Heise and Peter Richter |
Schild und Schwert (Shield and Sword) is a Neo-Nazi rock music festival held in Germany to celebrate the birthday of Adolf Hitler.[1] The festival is organized by the ultra-nationalist political group the National Democratic Party (NPD). The event is held in Ostritz in Eastern Saxony. The festival is attended by far-right extremists from Germany and neighboring countries.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesverfassungsschutz) mentioned that "the festival has particular importance for the sub-cultural right-wing extremist scene".[2] In 2018, the Neo-fascist mixed martial arts scene and the music scene were united for the first time at the festival by the MMA event "Kampf der Nibelungen".
2018
[edit]In 2018 NPD activist Thorsten Heise and NPD lawyer Peter Richter organized Shield and Sword. They combined it with the Nazi MMA event, "Kampf der Nibelungen". The music line-up included white metal bands such as Die Lunikoff-Verschwörung, which was founded by the former Landser singer Michael Regener, Kategorie C, Amok from Switzerland, Oidoxie from Dortmund,[3] and others. Nearly every band has a connection to Blood & Honour.[4][5]
2019
[edit]In 2019 the festival had 500 to 600 attendees. 1,400 police officers from several states from Germany and from Poland were there. The city of Ostritz prohibited any alcohol at the festival.[6]
2020
[edit]In 2020 the festival was postponed and then cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "German neo-Nazis are trying to go mainstream with MMA and music festivals".
- ^ "Rechtsextremismus". BundesamtfuerVerfassungsschutz (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "Rechtsterroristische Allianzen" (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "Ostritz: Rechtsextremes Stelldichein im Schatten von "Blood & Honour"". LVZ - Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "Wie das "Schild und Schwert"-Festival die Neonazi-Szene vereinen wollte". www.vice.com (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ "Ostritz: Bundespolizist trug fragwürdige Symbole auf Uniform". Der Spiegel (in German). 2019-06-23. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
- ^ ""Schild und Schwert" in Ostritz fällt aus: Braunes Festival endgültig abgesagt". TAG24 (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-07.