Hans-Helmuth Knütter

Who is Hans-Helmuth Knütter?

Hans-Helmuth Knütter is a German political scientist and politician. He habilitated with the work “Die Juden und die deutsche Linke in der Weimarer Republik 1918-1933”. Knütter was one of the many doctoral students of Karl Dietrich Bracher. From 1972 on, Knütter worked as professor at the University of Bonn und until 1996 managed the Seminar of Political Science there. Knütter was given the emeritus status in 1997. From 1985 to 1989, Knütter was member of the Advisory Council of the Federal Agency for Civic Education. From 1989 to 1994, he acted as a rapporteur for the Interior Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany and of the BpB.

In the 1970s, Knütter's works covered the complex interrelationship of Jewry and left-wing politics; studying totalitarianism, he noted the anti-liberal and antipluralistic traits of far-right thinking.

Critics have stated that from the early 1990s on, Knütter reflects right-wing conservative views; he has also been publishing in newspapers like Junge Freiheit. Knütter is considered an expert on political extremism, and his recent publications mostly criticize left-wing extremism.