There are open wounds that never seem to be able to close. Or that is at least the impression we have when learning about the complaints expressed by the direct descendants of the German brand. Simson, and the current German political party Alternative for Germany (Alternative for Germany), commonly known as AfD, considered by many to be a “far-right” party according to its political ideology.
Gross mode “The descendants of the Jewish Simson family, who now reside in the United States, reject the AfD’s appropriation of the moped brand”as reported by our colleagues at Motorrad Online. Currently, the AfD uses Simson mopeds at some of its electoral events to the point that Björn Höcke, president of the state of Thuringia, rides them when he is campaigning.
Simson General History
The beginning of Simson’s history and everything that came after dates back to the year 1740. However, if we stick to its activity related to the two-wheeled sector under the name of VEB Fahrzeug- und Jagdwaffenwerk Simson Suhl (Simson Suhl Vehicle and Hunting Weapons Factory), it was not until 1964 when the company started manufacturing its first model, the KR51.
After the First World War, Simson focused on the manufacture of luxury cars, also remaining the sole supplier of weapons to the German government. Those were good years for the brand that allowed it to go through the Great Depression of 1929 without too many complications. A situation that other local companies did not like too much, which strongly criticized this situation.
With the rise of the National Socialist German Workers Party, they took advantage of the situation to “to attack and defame the company’s Jewish CEOs”. This event resulted in the expropriation of the company by the Nazis, and the subsequent escape of the two founding brothers of the brand.
The dialectical confrontation between the family and the AfD
Currently, the AfD has proposed in several East German state parliaments the protection of Simson as intangible cultural heritage, considering it a symbol of freedom, independence and individuality. This fact has not pleased the relatives of the brand’s founders at all. In fact, they have openly stated that they consider “any association with the AfD repulsive and an insult to our name.”
It goes without saying that for those affected, the AfD is nothing more than the representation of Nazism in the 21st century. Undoubtedly, those questioned defend themselves against accusations of such magnitude, describing the position of the founding Jewish Simson family as “strange” and in which they show a clear “mass hysteria.”
In conclusion, we are facing a dead end since both positions are clearly irreconcilable and show, once again, how politics can distort almost anything, even the history of a brand as emblematic as the German one. We do not know if the matter will go beyond the exchange of recent statements, although we have serious doubts that the family will be able to take legal action against the AfD.
