A settler community called Weda Elysia has settled in the Harz Mountains. The mood in the village is tense, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is alerted and few people want to talk about it. t-online was there.
A small yellow house in the heart of Wienrode invites you to coffee and cake. It is nestled between half-timbered houses and courtyards in the small village with around 800 inhabitants in the east of the Harz Mountains. Through the windows of the inn you can see simple wooden furniture where guests could make themselves comfortable and spend time together. Everything seems idyllic. But the inn and its operator divide the village community.
In 2018, an association bought the Gasthof Haus Lindenquell: it is called Weda Elysia. Its members are gradually renovating it; it has been empty for a long time.
It is an association that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt classifies as “certainly right-wing extremist”. He belongs to the ethnic Anastasia movement, which has its origins in the fantasy book series by Russian author Vladimir Megre. In the books, Megre propagates a radical departure from modern society – and a closed, anti-Semitic and ethnic worldview. You can read more about the Anastasia movement here.
20 properties for right-wing extremists
The association is closely linked to other actors in the right-wing extremist scene. On his Telegram channel he shares videos in which conspiracy stories are spread – including the “Great Exchange” and the trivialization of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Narrative of the “Great Exchange”
The term describes a narrative of the New Right. They claim that the “native” population of Europe should be replaced through migration, particularly from African countries and the Middle East. Within the New Right, this is presented both as a consciously controlled process, often accompanied by conspiracy theory charges, and as a result of demographic developments. In particular, the phrase “Umvolkung,” which is used as a synonym, refers directly to the National Socialist term of the same name.
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the association has 15 members and wants to create retreat spaces. He has already taken over 20 properties in Wienrode, MDR reported from an information event organized by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in neighboring Blankenburg in November. With on-site activities, the association tries to bring people closer to its own ideology.
Oliver Meißner, a Protestant pastor in the village, said in an interview with t-online that the mood in the village has definitely changed since the settlers bought the inn – also due to their large presence. A banner hanging on her house reads “For peaceful coexistence in our beautiful Wienrode”. Meißner contradicts this on the phone: “You’re actually not doing anything to enable peaceful coexistence.”
Weda Elysia wants to appear peaceful
Rolf Frankenberger, extremism researcher at the University of Tübingen, sees this as a strategy of the movement. To the outside world, they present themselves as peaceful citizens who want to integrate into the community. “But if you look at their ideology, the anti-Semitic conspiracy, they are no longer the peaceful people.”
Two members of the association ran in the by-elections for the local council in November 2023. One of them, Anja Maria Schulz, was elected to the local parliament with 101 votes. The candidates from the “Schönes Wienrode” electoral list, for which she ran, received 204 votes, while those from the CDU’s second electoral list received 986 votes. Weda Elysia wanted to get involved in the village, explained chairman Maik Meinhard Schulz to MDR. The club did not respond to a request from t-online.
“If they cared so much about the peaceful coexistence of the village, they wouldn’t have had to run,” says Meißner about the election. The members of the association know that they are controversial. With the election, public attention to the place grew a little more.
Pastor wants to shed light on right-wing activities
Meissner sees his task primarily as enlightenment. “Nobody here can say they don’t know what they stand for.” Before the election, he encouraged people to go to the voting booth without fear. After the election, he now has a little more hope, because with 986 votes, many spoke out against the club. Meißner is now planning further events with the community on cultural and social diversity.
In 2019, members of the Left also organized a counter-demonstration to Yule, the ancient Germanic festival celebrating the winter solstice. Already in the terrorist state of the National Socialists, attempts were made to reinterpret the Christian Christmas as a “Yule Festival” – a tradition that right-wing extremist movements have adopted today. Weda Elysia celebrates it every year as a Germanized Christmas market, with decorated trees and huts offering food and drinks.
