Tatjana Festerling

Tatjana Festerling
Tatjana Festerling in 2015
Born	Tatjana Schimanski March 6, 1964 Wuppertal
Nationality	German
Occupation	Political Activist
Known for	Member of PEGIDA

Tatjana Festerling (née Schimanski, 6 March 1964, Wuppertal) is a German New Right politician and member of the Orgateam (organisation team) of the political movement Pegida. Der Spiegel has described Pegida's decision in 2015 to invite Festerling, a woman, to work side by side with Lutz Bachmann, the party founder, as "an adroit chess move" ("ein geschickter Schachzug"), and then quotes Die Weltwoche, which says she "has two grown children, training in coaching and yoga, is an ultramarathoner, widely traveled, freedom-loving, and has many international friendships."^[1]

From AfD to Pegida

In early 2015, Kathrin Oertel had thrown in the towel, tendering her resignation to Pegida and later apologizing to Muslims in a video.^[2] All of this was happening when the movement was yet in its nascent stages. Meanwhile, Festerling was transitioning out of the AfD, the party she was formerly affiliated with.^[3] After Oertel's resignation, there was a void that needed to be filled in Pegida's ranks, given the fact that there are so many men in the movement. Achim Exner, Frank Ingo Friedemann, René Jahn, Kathrin Oertel, Bernd-Volker Lincke, and Thomas Tallacker had resigned, and Lutz Bachmann, Vicky Bachmann, Tom Balazs, Stephan Baumann, Siegfried Däbritz, and Thomas Hiemann were the only ones left in the Orgateam.^[4] Festerling joined Pegida and became the first-ever Pegida candidate to run for office, campaigning for the mayoral office of Dresden and receiving 9.6% of the vote in the election held on June 7, 2015.^[5]

References

1. Hebel, Christina (14 April 2015). "Dresdner OB-Kandidatin Festerling: Zu rechts für die AfD - für Pegida gerade recht". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
2. Klaiber, Susanne (6 May 2015). "Ex-Pegida Frontwoman Kathrin Oertel Apologizes for Anti-Islam Statements". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
3. Hebel, Christina (14 April 2015). "Dresdner OB-Kandidatin Festerling: Zu rechts für die AfD - für Pegida gerade recht". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
4. Reinbold, Fabian; Röbel, Sven (28 January 2015). "Streit in Anti-Islam-Bewegung: Pegida-Sprecherin Oertel tritt zurück". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
5. Radau, Lars (7 June 2015). "Pegida-Kandidatin Festerling schafft fast zehn Prozent". Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 13 February 2016.