Maximilian Krah

Maximilian Krah (born January 28, 1977) is a German lawyer and self-described right-wing politician.

He is serving as a member of the European Parliament for Alternative for Germany.

Krah grew up in Upper Lusatia as the youngest of three children.

His mother was a teacher and his father Peter Krah was an engineer, an executive for the local chapter of the Christian Democratic Union and later an advisor to the Ministry for Interior and Sports of Lower Saxony.

After high school, Krah studied law at the Technical University of Dresden followed by an MBA at the London Business School and the Columbia Business School in New York.

Krah joined the Junge Union in 1991, the youth wing of the CDU.

During his studies he was also active in the Association of Christian Democratic Students.

In 2004 he completed state examinations to practice as a lawyer and was called to the bar in 2005.

He also ran a law firm in Dresden with two colleagues.

Krah lives in Dresden.

He is a practicing Catholic, is widowed and has eight children by three women.

Krah left the CDU in 2016.

In that same year, Krah joined Alternative for Germany and was elected deputy chairman of the AfD Saxony in February 2018.

In 2019, Krah was elected as an MEP for the AfD.

In the European Parliament he sits as a member of the Identity and Democracy group and is a member of the committees for Relations with the United States, International Trade (INTA) and Deputy Member of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.

He also served as the spokesman for the AfD in the European Parliament until 2022.

Krah ran for the election in June 2022 for mayor of Dresden but lost to incumbent mayor Dirk Hilbert.

In July 2023 he was named as the AFD top candidate in the 2024 European Parliament election.

Krahs is very active on TikTok and tries to reach 16-year-old first-time voters.

Krah's social media strategy is carefully orchestrated with the help of another right-wing extremist activist.

In 2023 Krah traveled to China at the expense of the Chinese government.

He had several conversations with the Chinese intelligence service IDCPC.

He later campaigned for Chinese economic interests in Germany against the line of his right-wing radical nationalist party AfD.

An employee from his environment received amounts of money from China before and after his trip.

In February 2023, Krah was suspended from the "Identity and Democracy" (ID) parliamentary group, to which the AfD belongs in the EU Parliament, due to allegations of fraud.

Krah's office had obtained offers for advertising services from three companies that were strikingly similar - including typos.

The tender was stopped.

After an anonymous letter to the EU anti-corruption authority OLAF, the office got involved.

The investigation concluded without further action.

Krah is closely linked to the AfD candidate Arno Bausemer.

During the election campaign, the media revealed that Bausemer had invented parts of his CV.

In the summer, Krah tried to influence Bausemer's ex-girlfriend, the AfD politician Bianca Wolter.

He wanted to ensure that Wolter did not comment negatively on Bausemer.

He promised her financial benefits for her and her child if Bausemer was elected to the EU Parliament.