Controversy over “Bembel with Care” founder Benedikt Kuhn – Kelterei announces cooperation

Benedikt Kuhn, the founder and owner of the canned cider label “Bembel with care” also does a bit of politics on Insta. pic.twitter.com/YWnLk8cK2Q

– Magnapinna (@JP_Stich) May 9, 2020

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Violent criticism of legal ideological contributions by “Bembel with Care” founder Benedikt Kuhn

Kuhn posted the statement on May 8 on his Instagram account “apfelweinbaron” in a story – a function of the platform in which content automatically disappears after 24 hours. His statement that the day is not a “day of liberation” should not initially be interpreted exclusively as legal ideology. In one Article on the journalistic blog “Ruhrbarone” For example, the author Robert Herr also criticized the wording. However, he pointed out that with these words there was a reinterpretation of history, which reversed Germany from perpetrators to victims and thus shifted responsibility for the atrocities of the war. In the context of Kuhn’s other social media statements, this interpretation of the criticism seems rather unlikely.

In screenshots of private chats on Instagram, Kuhn asserts that Germany will continue to be occupied by Allied soldiers 75 years after the end of the war. This theory is particularly virulent in the movement of the New Right and has its origin in the milieu of the imperial citizens. The latter unites, among other things, many conspiracy theorists who do not recognize the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Controversy over Benedikt Kuhn: “Bembel with Care” founder posts right content

Across from Kuhn responded to the “Echo Online” allegationswho are currently breaking into him. He posts a lot of “polarizing stuff”, including vaccinations or the corona restrictions. He did not expect the current outrage. “But what was posted in relation to me is only defamatory,” he said to the echo. It was Kuhn’s honest opinion that Germany was not free. But he was not a “national nostalgic” and had no connection to the war.

Another photo circulating on the Internet shows Benedikt Kuhn in a black shirt with a black cross, very similar to the Iron Cross, around the collar and a black-painted bar on his face. The Iron Cross is not universally perceived as an explicitly political right confession, but is repeatedly used as a symbol by the extreme right. Kuhn does not want to suspect any political motive here either. The picture was taken at a fetish party under the motto “Lacquer, Leather and Military”, he told the Echo.

Posts point to right-wing ideology: Big criticism of “Bembel with Care” founder Benedikt Kuhn

Users Twitter also released additional screenshots, according to those Benedikt Kuhn subscribed to Instagram accounts that belong to the right spectrum. These include the AfD parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel and an account for news from the right-wing populist party, but also the extreme right-wing and anti-Semitic Youtuber Nikolai Nerling, known under the pseudonym “Der Volkslehrer”, who has already been convicted in court for sedition. Other accounts in this list also glorify the image of a “Germanic homeland”. Kuhn said he was well informed and did not believe in mainstream.

But the impression online of the “Bembel with care“Founder and owner signs is not complete. Screenshots of his Facebook posts show that Kuhn doubted the existence of right-wing terrorism, especially that of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) in Germany. War and propaganda images with swastikas, which he published on the platform “Pinterest” he explained to the echo by saying that he had been looking for certain styles for his art, but there was no political message behind it. Kuhn has since blocked his Instagram account for the public, and his account description simply says “Shitstorm.”

After controversy over founder Benedikt Kuhn: call for boycott of “Bembel with Care”

Several people on social media have already asked supermarket chains like Rewe to “Bembel with care“Take products from the range. The company had distanced itself from the statements of its founder and owner on social media. But now all accounts are offline. Upon request on Sunday, the company has not yet commented. Kuhn assured the Echo that the company was apolitical, but that he was still allowed to express himself politically. Nevertheless, some guest companies have announced that they no longer want to sell the products. The press shop Krämer, where the apple wine for “Bembel with Care” is produced, did not yet respond on request on Sunday.

Vegan chef Attila Hildmann is also currently causing a sensation with conspiracy theory messages and insults.

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