Müllermilch Boss with Fringe Friends A German Dairy Billionaire's Links to the Far Right
AfD co-chair Alice Weidel (center) with dairy billionaire Theo Müller and his wife, the businesswoman Beate Ebert.
Foto:Alexander Schuhmann / picture alliance
The man who once said that wealth hasn’t significantly changed his life held an extravagant belated birthday party for himself on the last Saturday in May. Champagne flowed for the 250 guests in the morning before an orchestra from Prague began playing. Later, there was an open-air buffet on lemon bedecked tables – before it was finally "Party Time” in the tent, according to the invitation.
As the night progressed, the décor grew more lavish. Gold-hued and delicate glass vases of hydrangeas, roses and floating candles appeared on the white tablecloths, along with bouquets of white peacock feathers and gilded palm leaves, crystals dangling from them. Even the backs of the chairs had golden frames. Chandeliers were hanging from the top of the tent.
The man who threw this opulent party was Theo Müller, 85, the dairy billionaire. Most Germans are intimately familiar with his products and advertising slogans, as are people in several other countries around the world, from Australia and China to Israel. His company Müllermilch has also been a sponsor for the German national football team.
The Influential Dairy King
Fewer may know that in addition to Müllermilch, the products of several other brands belong to his constantly growing empire, including Landliebe, Weihenstephan and Sachsenmilch. Sauces from Homann and the fish in Nordsee products in supermarkets also come from his production facilities.
Müller has succeeded in transforming a small village creamery with four employees into a dairy and food products empire. Last year, his company, which is now based in Luxembourg, generated revenues of 9.5 billion euros and Müller himself is among the 100 wealthiest Germans, though he has emigrated to Switzerland for taxation reasons.
Put simply, Müller is one of the most successful businessmen in Germany. And also one of the most controversial. A dairy king with plenty of influence.
On May 31, the party in the name of "the Müllers” took place on the sunny grounds of the Weihenstephan dairy in the Bavarian town of Freising. In addition to family members, the party was attended by doctors, entrepreneurs and a bestselling author in addition to politicians from the center-right Bavarian political party CSU and other representatives from the business-friendly FDP, including a former Bavarian minister. And there were a number of figures from the extreme right-wing fringe.
Comfortable Interaction
The party revealed just how comfortable Müller, a member of the CSU for many years, has become with those from the right-wing and how close his contacts have grown. It also demonstrates how radical right-wingers can find themselves on such occasions in the proximity of democratically minded politicians and lobbyists. How they can expand their networks and their influence.
And those present clearly had no problem being at a party with representatives from the extreme right. DER SPIEGEL was able to speak with participants and also view private photos from the party, see the invitation and review a seating chart.
The best-known guest was Alice Weidel, head of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. She was there with her partner Sarah Bossard, her two sons and bodyguards. The fact that Müller considers Weidel to be a "friend” of his is something he mentioned in an interview last year. He has known her since 2020, he said, and she visits frequently.
The Weihenstephan dairy on Bavaria.
Foto: Andrea Mölzner / People PictureA few months previously, the German tabloid Bild published photos of Müller and Weidel taken at a high-end restaurant in the French town of Cannes, triggering calls on social media for a boycott of Müller Group products. The crusty patriarch responded by saying he is somewhere between an interested observer of the AfD and a supporter. At the same time, he also recommended that the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) in Saxony form a governing coalition with the right-wing extremist party. Müller also told the business daily Handelsblatt that in conversations with Weidel, he "didn’t have even the slightest impression” that the AfD or she harbored any trace of National-Socialist ideology.
The AfD demonstrated its gratitude with declarations of solidarity. AfD deputy leader Peter Boehringer published a photograph of himself, Weidel and AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla holding bottles of Müllermilch milk in their hands, calling it a "politically correct” beverage. Other party functionaries followed suit – posting a shopping cart full of Müllermilch bottles, for example, along with protestations of loyalty.
Müller and Weidel in Bayreuth
That was over a year and a half ago. These days, Müller and Weidel are even more open about their friendship. During the federal election campaign early this year, Weidel said that she could "very easily” imagine having Elon Musk, Peter Thiel or "someone like Theo Müller” in government. Just over two weeks ago, Müller allowed himself to be photographed at the Bayreuth Festival with Weidel and his wife, the businesswoman Beate Ebert.
At the Müller’s birthday party, Weidel sat with other guests at the table named "Antibes.” The tables were apparently named after places that have a certain meaning for Müller: Zürich, where he lives; Klosters, where he owns a house; Baden Baden, where he got married to Ebert two years ago. There was also a table called Camps Bay, which is in South Africa, and then Antibes, located near Cannes, the city where his friendship with Weidel became public knowledge.
Among the guests sitting at Weidel’s table was the author Gaby Hauptmann, who became famous many years ago with her book "In Search of an Impotent Man.” She has written numerous bestsellers since, with many of them being transformed into films by German public broadcaster ARD. Hauptmann has posted lots of photos of herself with German stars and starlets on the internet, and she has also been chosen twice by the CDU to be part of the Federal Convention, the body responsible for electing the German president and which includes both legislators and public figures.
In response to a query sent by DER SPIEGEL, she wrote that she had been invited by Müller’s wife and had not "asked for the guest list,” beforehand. She says she has "nothing to do” with Weidel’s political views and doesn’t even know where she was sitting. In any case, Hauptmann says, "nobody has ever doubted” her "liberal, democratic worldview.”
Invited to Discuss "Remigration”
Another tablemate of Weidel and Hauptmann was Hans Christian Limmer, known both for being a co-founder of the bakery chain Backwerk and because he and another right-wing extremist wrote the invitations to the far-right gathering at the Landhotel in Potsdam that the investigative reporting platform Correctiv publicized one and a half years ago.
The focus of the Potsdam meeting was "remigration,” the right-wing extremist watchword that refers to the deportation or driving out of people with migration backgrounds, even if they are citizens of Germany. Limmer later claimed that he hadn’t actually been at the meeting and had nothing to do with the content discussed. "Some” of the demands made there, he said, left him deeply disturbed.
It should be mentioned, however, that his parents were also active in völkisch (ethno-nationalist), right-wing extremist circles, which also included well-known Holocaust deniers. In 2005, Limmer and his parents purchased property for a revisionist association in Saxony. In 2007, a meeting of neo-Nazis took place in a South Tyrol farmhouse, which, according to the police there, belonged to him. All of that has been known since 2024. Müller invited him anyway.
Just as he did Roger Köppel, publisher and CEO of the Swiss publication Weltwoche, who was even sitting at Müller’s table. For years, Weltwoche has been reporting increasingly positively about right-wing extremists and has also spread Russian disinformation and dabbled in Chinese propaganda.
Back in 2019, Köppel trivialized Björn Höcke, then the most prominent representative of the radical, völkisch wing of the AfD, in an interview. Last year, Köppel again gave Höcke a platform, which the extremist used to claim that he had "nothing, absolutely nothing” in common with national-socialism – even though he was on trial at the time for using an SA slogan in public, a crime for which he was ultimately convicted. Höcke, for his part, praised Köppel on Telegram as a "Swiss free spirit,” adding that he listens to Köppel daily.
Weidel and Köppel also know each other well. She thanked him back in 2016 in a Facebook post and asked: "Where is the 'German’ Roger Köppel?” Three years ago, Köppel then wrote that Weidel is the "most impressive, best and most honest politician in Germany.” Last fall, he gave her a column in Weltwoche.
Particularly sensitive is the fact that when Müller’s 2023 meeting with Weidel became public knowledge and he was criticized for it, Weltwoche expressed enthusiasm. Furthermore, Köppel once called the man to whose luxurious party he was invited a "galactically successful businessman.” When reached for comment, Köppel wrote: "I thought the times when private events in Germany were spied on for political reasons were irrevocably over.”
Paving the Way for the New Right
In addition to these extreme right-wing figures, politicians from democratic parties were also invited. Peter Gauweiler, for example, was sitting at Müller’s table, a man who has been a CSU representative in Bavarian and federal parliament for 25 years and who was also the Bavarian environment minister once in addition to a stint as state secretary in the Interior Ministry.
There have long been questions about his political compass. In 2023, Gauweiler raised eyebrows by signing the pro-Kremlin "Manifesto for Peace,” penned by populist Sahra Wagenknecht and the polarizing German publicist Alice Schwarzer. That same year, it became known that his law firm – for which DER SPIEGEL columnist Thomas Fischer also works – advocated on behalf of an Uzbek oligarch who is also considered a close confidant of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Investigations into the multi-billionaire for alleged tax evasion are ongoing, allegations he denies.
Gauweiler maintains a broad network of contacts. At his 70th birthday six years ago, August von Finck was among the guests, the billionaire who has reportedly provided financial assistance to the AfD on several occasions – through backchannels that only became public through reporting by a number of outlets, including DER SPIEGEL. Gauweiler has also profited from his relationship with Finck. According to the influential German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, Gauweiler earned at least 11 million euros in consulting fees from Finck just during his tenure in federal parliament, the Bundestag, alone.
Another guest at the same table during the Müller party was Rainer Zitelmann, who, 30 years ago, initiated the historically revisionist "appeal against forgetting,” which challenged the narrative that May 8, 1945, the day of Germany’s surrender in World War II, was a "day of liberation.” The historian is a member of the FDP, but is seen as an early trailblazer for the New Right, the political movement that paved the way for the AfD. Years ago, he wrote a book that trivializes Adolf Hitler, which is also being sold in the shop of the right-wing extremist publishing house Compact Verlag.
When reached for comment, Zitelmann rejected the characterization of his book as trivializing of Hitler, saying it had been reviewed positively by historical journals and is sold by respected publishing houses. Müller, he says, has been a "good personal friend” for many years, which isn’t changed by the fact that he, Zitelmann, "rejects the AfD and has been sharply criticizing it for years.” He says he finds it unproblematic to attend parties "where there are also guests who have completely different opinions than my own.”
Müller’s birthday party was also attended by Rolf Baron von Hohenhau, a businessman and "CSU stalwart,” as the local press refers to him. That serves to demonstrate that Müller doesn’t just have a well-developed network on the right-wing fringes. Hohenhau is head of the Bavarian chapter of the German Taxpayers Federation and chairman of the supervisory board of the European Economic Senate (EES), a lobbying group that boasts that its members hold discussions 'with high-ranking representatives of European politics.'
"Just a Businessman”
Hohenhau says he doesn’t care that Weidel was present. "I have nothing to do with the AfD,” he says, adding that the EES doesn’t speak with representatives from the party and that he is unfamiliar with the other names from the right-wing fringes who were present. He has known Müller, though, for decades, as "a businessman who creates a lot of jobs.” They are not bound by a close friendship, he says, but he was placed at Müller’s table nonetheless.
So, too, was Gerd Ganteför. A professor of physics, Ganteför has made a name for himself in recent years as a climate change skeptic and wind power opponent. He is a member of the Netzwerk Wissenschaftsfreiheit (Network for Academic Freedom), which stands in opposition to a purported cancel culture. Ganteför has also made an appearance at an AfD event and recently demonstrated his weakness for conspiracy ideologies with comments such as: "In the area of climate and energy, we are experiencing today an ideologically distorted science.” It has "acquired dictatorial characteristics” and is used "as a tool” to reorganize society, he says.
A handful of well-networked personalities from the world of business were also on hand for Müller’s party. One of those was Harald von Seefried, the founder of a corporate consultancy in Zürich – a man who "specializes in a number of discrete services,” as the business publication manager magazin (owned by the DER SPIEGEL publishing house) once wrote. Seefried’s worldview is similar to that of Müller, at whose table he was seated. In 2010, Seefried gave an interview to a central publication of the New Right and claimed that Germany’s government at the time, a coalition of Angela Merkel’s conservatives with the FDP, was fulfilling "socialist demands.” It was an issue that Müller was also concerned about. In a joint foreword for a book in 2007, the two of them wrote that they were living in an era "in which the slogans of socialism are re-emerging in an alarming fashion.”
When reached for comment, Seefried said that he is a private citizen and was attended a "private birthday party.” He forbade DER SPIEGEL from mentioning his name and said he reserves the right to take legal action if his wishes are not respected. He also claimed that information about his presence at the party could only have been obtained "through criminal means.”
Müller Isn’t Interested in a Firewall
The guest list could go on and on. It shows that Müller doesn’t think too highly of the much-discussed "firewall” between democratic political parties and the AfD. On the contrary. Because if a successful businessman can invite right-wing extremists, Putin fans and climate skeptics and mix then together with other guests from the worlds of politics, business and culture – what does that say? How far have such views seeped into the center of society?
Gauweiler, Limmer and Ganteför didn’t respond at all to questions about the party sent to them by DER SPIEGEL. Weidel’s office said that she did not wish to comment on "private social contacts.” In particular, said her spokesman, she didn’t want to "provide an assessment of guests at a private birthday party.”
And the hosts? They said nothing.
Nor, apparently, did they need to. As DER SPIEGEL has learned, it appears that their guests were in no way bothered by the composition of the invitees. Still, they must have known that Müller has a certain affinity for some AfD positions, certainly since his interview in early 2024. No matter whether the issue was migration or the phase out of nuclear energy, Müller blames one person: Chancellor Angela Merkel. He also said that his ancestors blazed the trail for his wealth: "with their genes."
Harsh with His Workers
Müller, who is described by a longtime business associate as "highly intelligent and unpredictable,” can also seem ruthless. He is notorious for his harsh treatment of anyone who doesn’t suit him or dares to defy him – whether it be employees, journalists or politicians.
In 2005, Müller paid a settlement of 45,000 euros after he had attacked photographers who were taking pictures of a protest in front of his production facility. He once congratulated employees as they tried to drive away "Greenpeace scoundrels” with a fire hose. And he has had to pay fines for drawing too much groundwater and for unauthorized construction.
Müller is also unrelenting when it comes to how he treats his workers. The approximately 3,000 employees in his large plant in the Saxon city of Leppersdorf are not paid in accordance with collective bargaining agreements. Their hourly wages are below levels negotiated by industry unions. Furthermore, "in works council elections, the employer-friendly list always prevails. Essentially, they keep a compliant works council,” says a member of the NGG, the German trade union responsible for Müller’s workers.
That matches up well with the AfD’s views, the purported party of the common man. In German federal parliament, the AfD did not vote in favor of raising the minimum wage, opposed the expansion of strike rights and rejected the government’s law mandating that collective bargaining agreements be respected.
One can guess why Theo Müller and Alice Weidel get on so well.
