Why Lutz Bachmann is making headlines

Who is he?

Leader of a German organisation called Patriotic Europeans Against Islamization of the West (PEGIDA).

What does this organisation do?

Mainly, they hold anti-immigration marches across Germany. PEGIDA has been criticised for intolerance and Islamophobia and their marches have been countered with even larger protests across Germany.

But what’s the buzz around Lutz?

Bachmann had to step down from his post after a Facebook photo of his, having styled his hair and moustache to resemble Nazileader Adolf Hitler, was printed in a German tabloid.

Was that all?

No. The Dresdner Morgenpost also printed a picture from 2012 of the activist dressed in Ku Klux Klan costume with the slogan: “Three Ks a day keeps the minorities away”.

What was his explanation?

Bachmann said the Hitler photo was an attempt at satire. But no one in Germany, including his own organisation, agreed with him. Prior to stepping down, Bachmann changed his Facebook profile picture to a still from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, with the caption: “He’s allowed to do satire…but not Lutz”.

Was he trying to be funny or to rally people around the idea of Hitler?

Going by the photo, the intent appears serious enough: to glorify Hitler and to intimidate immigrants. But from an aesthetic point of view, the result was quite comical. Devastatingly for Bachmann, when he tried to defend himself saying he was appealing to their funny bone, Germans did not find it funny.