Michael Ballweg
Michael Ballweg (born 1975) is a former German entrepreneur and business economist from Stuttgart. Ballweg is founder of a group of activists to protests over COVID-19 policies in Germany, so called "Querdenken" (German for: lateral thinking). The group is owned and headed by him; he is the owner of the wordmark "Querdenken 711" and several other brands with the none "Querdenken". The group has no legal status and so Ballweg is owner of the enterprise.[1] He is one of Germany's most known anti-corona-policie activist.[2][3]
Live[edit]
IT-entrepreneur[edit]
Michael Ballweg is the founder and was managing director of Media Access GmbH and Lingulab GmbH / Synagram (text optimization software). He developed an App for route planning. Media Access GmbH sells software with which companies can fall back on retired employees and their expertise.[4] Till 2020 large companies were given as references on the company's website. Due to Ballweg's positioning against pandemic protective measures, his customers would now prohibit him from advertising with them. Robert Bosch GmbH, ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Thyssenkrupp had previously terminated contracts for economic reasons.[5] Michael Ballweg and his company are also featured in a Microsoft advertisement. Ballweg himself acts as a critic of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. In September 2020 Ballweg announced that it had sold its company.
Founder of "Querdenken"[edit]
Michael Ballweg startet in Stuttgart the "Querdenken" initiative in April 2020 to protest against corona-restrictions in South-West Germany. Till February 2021, more than 60 local "Querdenker" groups have been founded to hold protest-demonstrations.
In June 2020 Ballweg announced that he wanted to run for Mayor of Stuttgart as a non-party member. In the election for mayor on November 8, 2020, he received 1.2% of the vote.[6]
In November 2020 Ballweg invited a number of "Querdenken"-activist for a secret strategic meeting with Peter Fitzek, one of the main protagonist of German Reichsbürgerbewegung.[7] After the meeting, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Baden Württemberg decided to observe "Querdenken" with secret service means.[8] The satiric TV-Program “ZDF Magazin Royale” made Ballweg to the “Corona entrepreneur of the year” due to his business acumen. Ballweg is running a shop with merchandise of "Querdenken" and is earning money from the organized bus-trips to the demonstrations.[9] Media outlets reported, Ballweg had charged speaker with a fee for being on stage at demonstrations.[10][11]
Contrary to his statements at the end of 2020, to withdraw from the movement, he was the main speaker at the "Querdenken" demonstration in April 2021 in Stuttgart.[12][13]
"Querdenken" describes itself as "non-partisan". The "Querdenker" movement is very heterogeneous, the spectrum ranges from vaccine opponents to esotericists, Reichsbürger and conspiracy theorists to right-wing extremists and Reichsbürger.[14] Because there is a personal and ideological overlap with right-wing extremists and Reichsbürger, especially at the management level of "Querdenken 711", the native initiative of Ballweg, this has been monitored by the Baden-Württemberg Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) and other state and federal offices.
Ballweg commented about the observation by the LfV that the attempt to put his group in some political corner is very reminiscent of the time when the Stasi discredited opponents in the GDR.[15]
External links[edit]
- Reports about Michael Ballweg from the NGO Netzpolitik.org
References[edit]
- ↑ Laufer, Daniel (2020-10-16). "Aufmerksamkeit - Querdenken kämpft mit Anwalt um den goldenen Aluhut". netzpolitik.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ "Querdenken zerfällt - KenFM vs Ballweg, Hildmann spricht von "zerstrittenem Widerstand"". Volksverpetzer (in Deutsch). 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ "Germany coronavirus: Anger after attempt to storm parliament". BBC News. 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ "Innovative App: Wie aus einer kleinen Idee ein Geschäft wurde". www.computerwoche.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Aktuell, S. W. R.; Aktuell, S. W. R. "Querdenken-711-Gründer Michael Ballweg inszeniert sich als Opfer eines Boykotts". swr.online (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Zeitung, Süddeutsche. "Kretschmann: "Brandmauer gegen Rechtsaußen muss stehen"". Süddeutsche.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ tagesschau.de. "Treffen mit "Reichsbürgern": "Querdenker" im "Königreich"". tagesschau.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ tagesschau.de. ""Querdenken" im Visier des Verfassungsschutzes". tagesschau.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ "Jan Böhmermann ist der Herr der Dinge". www.tagesspiegel.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Schäffer, Mona (2021-03-25). "Wie viel verdient Querdenken-Chef Michael Ballweg an der Krise?". wmn (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Laufer, Daniel (2020-12-18). ""Querdenken" - Der geschäftige Herr Ballweg". netzpolitik.org (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-07.
- ↑ ""Querdenker" rufen zur Corona-Demo in Stuttgart - ausgerechnet am Holocaust-Gedenktag". https://www.bw24.de (in Deutsch). 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-04-06. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ Zeitung, Süddeutsche. "Querdenker in Stuttgart: Tausende demonstrieren gegen Corona-Maßnahmen". Süddeutsche.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ "Querdenker: Wer sie sind - und wie sich die Bewegung entwickelt". BR24 (in Deutsch). 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ Germany, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgart. "Verfassungsschutz beobachtet "Querdenken"-Bewegung: Michael Ballweg: Beobachtung ist ein Einschüchterungsversuch". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2021-04-12.
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