Gelsenkirchen Council Removes AfD Politician Emmerich from Office After Racist Video Stunt

The video quickly drew sharp criticism. As WDR reported, the state network of Sinti and Roma filed a criminal complaint. "Laut WDR erstattete das Landesnetzwerk der Sinti und Roma Anzeige", the report stated. A broad citizens' alliance also formed in Gelsenkirchen, including former SPD mayor Frank Baranowski as well as representatives of the churches. The alliance described the action as degrading and racist and called for Emmerich's removal.

Trigger: A Racist Video on Instagram

The SPD, FDP and Greens formulated their position in a joint press release. "Mit der Abwahl ziehen wir die notwendigen politischen Konsequenzen und machen deutlich, dass wir menschenverachtende Grenzüberschreitungen nicht akzeptieren", the three parliamentary groups declared. With "mehr als zwei Drittel der gewählten Vertreterinnen und Vertreter" the council had affirmed its commitment to the democratic order and respect for human dignity: "Eine Zweidrittelmehrheit ist eine hohe Hürde". Clearing this hurdle demonstrated, "dass in Gelsenkirchen ein überparteiliches demokratisches Spektrum zusammensteht, das öffentliche Diffamierung und Demütigung nicht hinnimmt".

On Thursday, the vote took place in the Gelsenkirchen council. According to a city spokesperson speaking to dpa, two members of the AfD parliamentary group were absent from the session. Of the city council members present, 47 voted in favor of removing Emmerich, while 18 voted against. The two-thirds majority of at least 45 votes required by the municipal code for the removal of a deputy mayor was thus reached. "Mit 47 Stimmen wurde die nötige Zweidrittelmehrheit im Rat erreicht", it was stated. According to WAZ, the vote was followed by applause in the chamber.

How the Video Brought Emmerich to Power

Emmerich had only been surprisingly elected Deputy Mayor in mid-December 2025, even though the SPD and CDU had previously agreed on Manfred Leichtweis (SPD) as First and Werner Wöll (CDU) as Second Deputy to Mayor Andrea Henze (SPD). Emmerich's election came about because, under the d'Hondt counting method, only half of the votes for Wöll were taken into account, so he ended up behind Emmerich with 21.5 votes. In a secret ballot, the 72-year-old former bank employee had received 23 votes—three more than the AfD has seats in the council. The election had at the time been perceived nationwide as a political bombshell.

With his election as deputy to the city hall chief, Emmerich had taken on a ceremonially significant role in addition to his function as AfD parliamentary group leader in the council. According to the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ), however, during his total of seven months in office he did not attend a single official appointment for the city. In terms of content, he had already publicly called the office into question. Speaking to WAZ, he said he had expected his removal "vor einem halben Jahr" and saw the video action only as an "angenehmen Anlass".

The Vote in the Gelsenkirchen Council

Ahead of the vote, the SPD, CDU, Greens and FDP had jointly submitted a motion for removal from office to the council. The SPD, FDP and Greens also co-signed the motion in a joint press release. The four parliamentary groups hold a combined total of 37 seats on the 66-member Gelsenkirchen city council according to the available figures; the AfD parliamentary group holds 20 mandates. The result of Thursday's vote clearly exceeded the threshold required for removal.

Immediately after Emmerich's removal, the council elected the previously unsuccessful Werner Wöll (CDU) as the new Deputy Mayor in the same session. The body thereby followed the original personnel proposal of the grand coalition. In his role as deputy, Wöll was primarily tasked with representational duties at official occasions at which he stands in for the mayor. Emmerich's election from December 2025 was thereby retrospectively corrected.

Consequences and Reactions Beyond the City

The AfD announced that it would seek to make a political assessment of the council's proceedings. Emmerich remains chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Gelsenkirchen city parliament after his removal from office. With Seli-Zacharias, whose deputy Emmerich is, the party continues to hold the city association leadership duo that initiated the action that became known as the "cleaning video" in the Ückendorf district.

The reactions to the outcome of the council session extended beyond the city limits. In North Rhine-Westphalia state politics, the episode was classified as evidence of the functionality of democratic majorities beyond the AfD. In their statement, the SPD, FDP and Greens pointed out that the high hurdle of a two-thirds majority showed that more than two-thirds of the elected council members had clearly affirmed their commitment to the democratic order. Observers interpreted the subsequent election of Wöll as an attempt by the council majority to restore the original personnel proposal agreed between the SPD and CDU.

What Remains: Legal and Political Follow-Up

The events also throw a spotlight on the handling of far-right or racially motivated provocations in the political sphere of North Rhine-Westphalia. While the complaint filed by the state network of Sinti and Roma could have judicial consequences, Emmerich's removal was a political signal from the other council parliamentary groups, which thereby explicitly positioned themselves against "öffentliche Diffamierung und Demütigung". What further consequences the video might have, for example in disciplinary or internal party terms, for those involved remained open on the day of the vote.

The individual parliamentary groups on the council had once again reaffirmed their positions ahead of the session. The SPD, CDU, Greens and FDP made clear that they understood the motion for removal as a joint sign against the video. The vote was thus not merely an act of removal from office, but also a joint substantive positioning. In the view of the four parliamentary groups, the vote documented that a broad majority on the Gelsenkirchen city council is committed to the liberal-democratic order.

Emmerich himself remained composed on the margins of the session. In the WAZ conversation, he indicated that the news did not come as a surprise from his point of view. He described the political action that led to his departure as an "angenehmen Anlass". He thereby continued to assume political responsibility for the publication of the video. Whether the AfD has to face the courts—for example on charges of incitement of the people or insult—now also depends on the further assessment of the criminal complaint.

The news of the removal was broadcast on 09.07.2026 on Deutschlandfunk; the associated report carried the mark of a breaking news alert. Its dissemination via the public-law broadcaster underscores the supra-regional significance of the episode. Reactions from the state capital Düsseldorf and from the ranks of the federal party were to be expected in the coming days. Until then, it remains to be seen how the balance of power on the Gelsenkirchen city council will continue to develop following Wöll's re-election.

With the removal, the immediate dispute over the "cleaning video" has been politically decided. The legal follow-up—for example by the state network of Sinti and Roma—and the parliamentary follow-up within the AfD city association are, however, still pending. Until then, Gelsenkirchen stands as an example of how a broad majority of four democratic parliamentary groups can counter a far-right provocation on the city council with a clear vote.