About 107 kilograms of gold in bars and coins, several patents, a plot of land and a number of expensive real estate properties - all this was bequeathed by the German engineer Rainer Strangfeld from Bückenburg in the state of Lower Saxony, who has no direct heirs, to the right-wing populist and partly far-right party “Alternative for Germany“ (AfD) in 2018.
A huge resonance in the media too
Taking into account the serious rise in the price of gold, today the total value of this inheritance is estimated at almost 11 million euros. The relatives of the millionaire, who committed suicide at the age of 79, are trying to prove that he was mentally ill at the time of drawing up the will in order to challenge the document.
However, this story caused a great resonance in the German media, also because the AfD in 2022 apparently managed to export this gold to the European “financial paradise“ Liechtenstein, which the magazine “Spiegel“ wrote about on September 25 of this year.
As is clear from the publication, the case has attracted the attention of anti-money laundering authorities in several European countries, including the German Financial Intelligence Unit. For his part, the party's treasurer Carsten Hütter, in response to a question from journalists, emphasized that “the AfD did not hide anything“ – all assets were transparent and reflected in the financial statements.
Are the actions of "Alternative" legal?
In a written comment for DW, law professor at the Free University of Berlin Sophie Schönberger explains that according to the German Party Law, any inheritance bequeathed to a party must be documented as "other income", and the amount of the inheritance itself and the name of the testator must be published separately in the party's financial statement. "Alternative for Germany" has fulfilled this", the expert states.
When asked whether receiving such a generous donation could become a problem for the party, the lawyer says that from a legal point of view there are no significant differences between a donation and an inheritance - as far as party finances are concerned. From a practical point of view, however, such an inheritance could create tension – for example, around possible disputes over the inheritance or the management of the entire inherited property, she adds.
And indeed: the donation of millions to the "Alternative for Germany" is recorded in the party's 2019 financial report, published on the Bundestag website. And the newspaper "Tagesspiegel" wrote that Rainer Strangfeld's donation is "the largest amount of money from a single donor given to a political party since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany".
Inheritance of millions for right-wing populists
In addition, the local organizations of "Alternative for Germany" in four German states - Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Thuringia - were announced in May this year. by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (domestic intelligence) for “proven extremist“. Regardless, “Alternative“ has inherited millions, and not for the first time. The party's financial report for 2023 shows that the party's income from inheritances amounted to almost 6 million euros. According to “Spiegel“ from February 2025, the funds were bequeathed to the party by Helga Schwab, a resident of the Berlin district of Dahlem. In the same year, two apartment buildings were also transferred to the party - in the Dahlem and Schöneberg districts of Berlin - for a total value of 2.15 million euros. It is not yet clear whether this is related to Schwab's inheritance.
In 2022, according to the party's financial report, the AfD inherited four properties worth a total of around one million euros. Other German political parties also receive inheritance funds, but for much smaller amounts. For example, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) received an inheritance of 120,000 euros in 2022, and the Left Party - 10,000 euros.
Why do rich people donate millions to the AfD?
During the 2025 election campaign, "Alternative for Germany" received "record amounts of donations from wealthy companies", MDR reported. What explains this? Kassel-based political analyst Wolfgang Schröder calls the AfD "a destructive party that seeks to destroy the existing system". And, judging by everything, there are clearly companies in Germany that believe that this party expresses their position best, he says. "In this sense, it is primarily a matter of a coincidence of goals, probably a coincidence of methods and the hope that the established players will find themselves in an unstable position, will go on the defensive and probably the sponsors will gain new prospects", explains Schröder. According to him, the trust of financially strong players in "Alternative for Germany" has increased.
Are AfD's finances really that transparent?
"Alternative for Germany" is not the first time that it has found itself at the center of scandals related to suspicions of money laundering, tax violations and donations from people with a dubious reputation. This is the case, for example, with the multimillionaire doctor Winfried Stöcker, who donated 1.5 million euros to AfD during the campaign before the early elections to the Bundestag in February 2025. Stoecker became known during the Covid pandemic for his sharp criticism of government policy, and also for developing his own vaccine against the coronavirus, which, however, was not licensed.
According to “Tagesschau“, since 2017, German parties represented in the Bundestag have been fined a total of 1.8 million euros for illegal donations, false data in party reports or misuse of funds. Of these, 1.1 million euros are fines for “Alternative for Germany”.
For comparison: The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) paid fines of 200,000 euros for similar violations over the same period, the SPD - 140,000 euros, “Union-90“/“Greens“ – 134,000 euros, The Left Party – 92,000 euros, The Christian Social Union (CSU) – 79,300 euros. Commenting on the AfD's high fines, treasurer Carsten Hütter explained that they were due to the party's lack of experience with donations.
Illegal donations to "Alternative for Germany"
In 2019, the AfD was fined 402,900 euros for a concealed illegal donation it received from the Swiss joint-stock company Schweizer GOAL AG during the election campaign for the Landtag elections in two federal states - in Baden-Württemberg in 2016 and North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017.
In June 2021, a court in Germany ruled that the AfD must pay a fine of 396,000 euros in connection with a donation from a pharmaceutical company from Zurich intended for the party organization in the constituency of party co-chair Alice Weidel - for a total of 132,000 euros.
In this regard, expert Martin Morlock recalls that German political parties are not allowed to receive funding from countries outside the European Union from persons who are not German citizens. In addition, donations over 50,000 euros must be registered by the parties with the Bundestag administration, and information about them must be disclosed immediately.
Author: Elena Gunkel