Electoral success of the NPD in the 1960s
The Hamburg branch of the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) was founded in 1964. It saw itself as a catch-all party and soon rose to become the most influential force within the extreme right. In the 1966 parliamentary elections in Hamburg it won 3.6% of the vote, closely failing to meet the 5% minimum necessary for gaining a seat in parliament – a hurdle which it had achieved in several other federal states.

There were repeated counter-demonstrations at public NPD events, and confrontations with NPD security, who were particularly violent. In 1969, the NPD narrowly failed to be elected to the Bundestag, leading to the party's decline and several schisms among party members. The situation resulted in the emergence of various New Right groups and openly neo-Nazi organisations.