Extreme right leader Juergen Rieger has died

Rieger suffered a stroke last weekend, and died on Thursday at a Berlin hospital. He was 63.

The Hamburg lawyer was vice president of the far-right, anti-immigrant National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) and the chairman of its Hamburg branch.

Rieger's family, which did not share his views, told Germany's dpa news agency that they were considering burial at sea or cremation and then scattering the ashes to prevent his grave from becoming a pilgrimage site for the extreme right. Rieger's son Harald said they were planning a private funeral.

Rieger was known for having many contacts within the Neo-Nazi scene and with leading extreme rightists in Scandinavia. He also defended several high-ranking extremists in court.

"He was a Neo-Nazi without any question," Olaf Sundermeyer, a journalist and NPD expert, told Deutsche Welle. "Juergen Rieger was one of the best known representatives of this hooligan front, this neo-Nazi front of the National Democratic Party of Germany."

Sundermeyer said his death would have a serious impact on the day-to-day operations of the party.

"He was the only person that actually had money within the NPD. He owned a lot of property in the Hamburg area, and he gave loans to the NPD. The question is whether his four children demand to get this money back," Sundermeyer said.

An inheritance of debt?

The party has been plagued with financial problems in recent years. The NPD had to pay back 1.27 million euros ($1.89 million) in public campaign funds to the German government after a former treasurer was charged with embezzling over 700,000 euros in 2008.

The head of the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Heino Vahldieck, called Reiger's death a significant blow for the NPD and far-right organizations in Germany.

"He was for a long time a beacon -as much for his biography as for his financial contributions," Vahldieck told the Associated Press.

According to dpa, Rieger leaves behind an estimated fortune of 500,000 euros. It's not yet known if Rieger left any money to the party in his will.

Who's next?

Sundermeyer says that Rieger's death could set off a power-struggle within the NPD, between the militant neo-Nazis and those in the party who play down its connections to the Hitler-era.

"Now that he's dead, the big question will be which of these wings will dominate the NPD in the future," Sundermeyer said.

In recent years, Rieger had been trying to buy derelict hotels, guest houses, and cinemas for use as "training centers" for the far-right. His attempts set off a flurry of citizen protests and counter-offers from the municipal governments.

Hans-Werner Schlitte, the mayor of a town where Rieger was trying to buy an empty country hotel, said on Friday that the community felt not so strongly under pressure since his death. "But we'll have to see who's going to succeed him"

svs/dpa/AP/dw
Editor: Chuck Penfold