AGI Profiles: Marc Jongen

Anthony Pancrazio

Halle Foundation/AGI Intern

Anthony Pancrazio is a spring 2025 Halle Foundation research intern at the American-German Institute. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Anthony is a senior at American University majoring in Political Science and German studies with minors in French and Anthropology. His research interests include defense policy, German-American relations, and domestic German affairs.

Last year, Mr. Pancrazio studied comparative politics, economics, and archeology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for an academic year. He is also an alumni of a high school immersion program in Berlin, Germany.

Prior to interning at AGI, Mr. Pancrazio led ethnographic research projects in Berlin, Germany, on Ukrainian refugees' political assimilation into German society as well as socio-economic inequalities in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Member of the European Parliament

Marc Jongen is a German politician affiliated with the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD). Currently serving as a member of the European Parliament, he previously served as the AfD chairman for the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg and as a member of the German Bundestag. In the European Parliament, Jongen serves on the Committee on Development (DEVE), the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI), and several delegations, including the Delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly and the Delegation to the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

Early Life and Education

Born on May 23, 1968, in Meran/Merano, Italy, Jongen grew up in a multicultural environment, having dual citizenship through his Italian mother and Dutch father, while simultaneously developing a connection to the German language and culture through the Austrian influence of his native German-speaking South Tyrol region. From this upbringing, a broad identity as a European resonates with him, although he hesitates to claim this as he remains euroskeptic, claiming people in Europe “feel at the mercy of the EU and cannot identify with it.” He completed his Abitur in Meran/Merano in 1987 before pursuing studies in economics at the University of Vienna from 1987 to 1988 before shifting his focus to philosophy, Indology, German history, and the philosophy of science. Jongen graduated in 1995, writing his master’s thesis, “The Essence of Spiritual Knowledge: A Journey into the Inner Self,” after spending time in India. In 1999, he emigrated to Germany to earn a PhD in philosophy from the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (University of Art and Design) in Karlsruhe under the renowned philosopher Peter Sloterdijk. Sloterdijk has been a figure of controversy in German intellectual circles due to his 1999 lecture “Rules for the Human Zoo,” which sparked debate from its discussion of human genetics and selection, leading to accusations of promoting eugenic ideas. Additionally, his critiques of the welfare state and discussions on political Islam have been contentious, with some accusing him of providing intellectual ammunition to right-wing movements. However, Sloterdijk has publicly distanced himself from Jongen. In a 2016 interview, Sloterdijk stated, “He might call himself my student if he had written at least one respectable book during his assistantship. As it stands, it’s just misquotations.” By 2018, he further criticized Jongen, describing him as a “complete impostor” and noting that Jongen had abandoned his academic ambitions in favor of politics.

Following his doctoral program, Jongen served as a research assistant in philosophy from 2003 to 2017 with the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. During this time, in 2011, he became a naturalized German citizen, and despite not having a previous political affiliation in Germany or abroad, he joined the AfD in 2013. Joining the party due to his belief that the government was leading Germany into a “cultural annihilation” due to immigration from Islamic countries, whose cultures went against “old German virtues such as hard work and decency” and ultimately “would cause the German people to disappear within a few decades.” While still working under Sloterdijk, his writings and public lectures often reflected his philosophical insights, merging traditional German philosophy with contemporary socio-political issues, all of which led to his entrance into the political realm in 2017.

Party Philosopher

Intertwining his study of philosophy and developing political career, Jongen played a significant role in shaping the AfD’s ideological framework, earning him the nickname of the “party philosopher” and “thought leader.” While still a professor and research assistant at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, he began to influence the policy platform and discourse surrounding the AfD. In January 2014, he published a manifesto in the magazine Cicero titled “Das Märchen vom Gespenst der AfD” (“The Myth of the AfD Specter”), where he called for the preservation of traditional family structures and German national culture. He argued against policies of equality, suggesting that where “equality” is promoted, “uniformity” is not far behind. Jongen stated that to be genuinely liberal today means to be conservative, and at times, even reactionary. His philosophical perspectives have influenced the party’s policies and public discourse, particularly concerning cultural identity and opposition to political correctness. Earning recognition for his contributions, in 2017, the academic director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, Roger Berkowitz, invited Jongen to speak at a conference called “Crises of Democracy: Thinking in Dark Times.” Igniting controversy, he advocated for the far-right immigration agenda and anti-political correctness ideology of the AfD and for the normalization of far-right political thought in debates and political discussions. During speeches, Jongen will often contextualize political issues with philosophical conceptions and terminology, most famously delivering a speech in Aalen, where he employed the Greek faculty of the soul, thymos, “passion,” to assert German politics must focus on strong emotions to combat contemporary challenges, namely the “intrusion of Islam.” After Jongen claimed that the old era of liberalism is fading out in Europe with right-wing and conservative movements establishing themselves to restore family, nation, and church, the Stuttgarter Nachtrichten newspaper stated that he is “at heart, a philosopher—one who doesn’t think in electoral cycles, or even in decades, but in centuries.” After his further involvement in the AfD party, Jongen found himself ostracized among his university colleagues, with professors signing an open letter calling for his expulsion as an editor of the university’s publication series. After this ostracization in the academic sphere and growing respect in the political sphere by AfD politicians, he fully dedicated himself to his political career in 2017. Stating that he was only “teaching the compulsory courses” and he already “mentally said goodbye to the university,” he successfully ran for a seat in the Bundestag as the AfD candidate for the Neckar-Zaber constituency and was placed third on the state list among all parties.

Political Career

Jongen’s formal entry into politics began in 2013 when he joined the AfD and began to contribute to their discourse. After these contributions and controversy at the Hannah Arendt Center, he was pushed up within party ranks to run for a seat in the Bundestag, which he won in 2017 and was re-elected to in 2021, where he served as a voice for the party’s cultural and philosophical agenda. Policies, which since 2013 have remained focused on preserving Germany as a state and a cultural nation, include the “control of the borders and curb[ing] immigration from Islamic countries because they form parallel societies in which the Sharia police already patrol. There needs to be a change in awareness. We need to defend our values ​​more vigorously. We need more self-confidence; we must not suspect right-wing ideas everywhere.” On economic policy, Jongen states, “The euro should be reformed by the crisis states leaving. That would not be possible if Germany left or the euro were to be dismantled. The EU must cede more rights to the individual states. I am also concerned with education policy. Here I want to give universities more academic freedom and call for reforms that are more in line with the reality of everyday school life. Example: Inclusion is well-intentioned, but it doesn’t work.” Regarding specifically the taboo reputation of the AfD, Jongen advocates for properly sanctioning positions that “are not ours because they are extremist” within the AfD in order to give the party more legitimacy in the Bundestag. In July 2024, Jongen was elected to the European Parliament after the AfD’s first pick and top candidate, Maximilian Krah, was removed from the ballot by AfD leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, due to investigations of foreign payments to Krah and his close ties to China and Russia, including Chinese spy Jian G., showing the party leaders’ alliance to Jongen and commitment to having him in the top ranks of the AfD.  In the European Parliament, his focus expanded to broader European issues, particularly those related to development, environment, climate, and food safety. His roles in various parliamentary committees have allowed him to advocate for the AfD’s platform at a European level, influencing debates on sovereignty, immigration, and environmental policies.

Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Vergangenheitsbewältigung, “coming to terms with the past,” is the analysis and understanding of Germany’s past under National Socialism and the Holocaust, a concept that has been normalized and integrated into all realms of German society, although the AfD continues to call for its denormalizing. This denormalization involves the removal of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin and the Stumbling Stones initiative, examples Jongen personally advocates for, stating he remains against a “cult of guilt” surrounding Holocaust remembrance and the AfD. Another of Jongen’s controversies at the Hannah Arendt Center involved him describing Vergangenheitsbewältigung as the “haunting spectre of Hitler” and, despite being an immigrant himself, referring to immigration, specifically immigrants from Islamic countries, as an “act of violence,” with critics arguing that it lent legitimacy to extremist views and perpetuated nationalist rhetoric. Jongen has repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism, and despite supporting institutional removals of Holocaust remembrance, he has been to Israel’s Holocaust museum Yad Vashem, a controversy as the German embassy requested an event at the memorial hall including Jongen and his AfD colleague, Matthias Moosdorf, which Yad Vashem turned down and refused to meet with either politician. During this visit, he said he was “glad to see how human and cultural bonds between Jews and Germans are being reestablished after the monstrous Nazi crimes. Sad to see prejudices on AfD.” Despite these controversies, Jongen maintains that his views are grounded in a legitimate concern for cultural integrity and national sovereignty, framing his critiques as philosophical rather than extremist.

Conclusion

Jongen’s contributions to the AfD’s philosophy have helped shape the party’s public image and policy positions. His academic background in philosophy and his active role in European politics underscore his significance in contemporary German and European political discourse. While his association with the AfD has been polarizing, Jongen’s influence within the party is undeniable, making him a key figure in the ongoing debates about Germany’s political future and its role in Europe.