German elections: Pirate Party politician found dead in apartment one day after losing seat to AfD

In his last session in the Berlin state parliament, Gerwald Claus-Brunner had told members: ‘When you have to deal with the AfD for the first time, you will light a candle for me’

The Piratenpartei (Pirate Party) delegate Gerwald Claus-Brunner attends the first session of the Berlin City Parliament after the September 2011 local elections (Getty Images)

One of the most prominent figures in Germany's Pirate Party has been found dead in his apartment, one day after he lost his seat in Berlin’s regional parliament to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Police found the body of Gerwald Claus-Brunner and that of another man in the politician’s Berlin apartment on Monday night. While an investigation into the deaths is ongoing and details of the other man’s identity have not been released, officers said evidence suggests the men committed suicide.

In a statement, the Pirate Party said it had been aware Mr Claus-Brunner had been suffering from an unspecified sickness. “We do not know the exact circumstances, but we knew of an incurable illness,” it said.

But German media reports have pointed to what now seem to be ominous comments made by Mr Claus-Brunner in his last session in the Berlin parliament back in June.

When it became clear the Pirate Party was slipping in the polls and he would lose his seat to the AfD, he said “you will have a minute of silence for me at the beginning of the [next] plenary meeting”.

Asked to explain the comment further, he said it was "meant in a figurative sense”, adding: “When you have to deal with the AfD for the first time, you will light a candle for me. Something like that.”

Mr Claus-Brunner was elected to the Berlin parliament in 2011, when the Pirate Party took 8.9 per cent of the vote and 15 seats.

Sure enough, on Sunday it was confirmed the party had received just 1.7 per cent of the vote in regional elections, according to Deutsche Welle, losing all its seats.

The AfD, a far-right party founded in 2013, took about 14 per cent of the Berlin vote, winning seats for the first time.

Mr Claus-Brunner stood out among his colleagues in the Berlin parliament, often wearing brightly-coloured overalls and a headscarf.

He was once a source of controversy, when his occasional use of a headscarf bearing the colours of the Palestinian flag led to accusations of antisemitism from the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch. Mr Claus-Brunner responded by wearing a Star of David.

Mr Claus-Brunner (R) watches colleagues from other parties greet each other prior to the first sitting of the Berlin parliament on October 27, 2011. He stood out for his appearance in parliament and was at times a controversial figure (AFP/Getty Images)

But he once complained of the mental and physical strain of being a public representative for the Pirate Party, which stands on principles of internet freedom and opposing government surveillance and regulation online.

After his first term in the state parliament, party sources said he claimed to be “morally and spiritually finished”.

Mr Claus-Brunner did not deny the reports, but told followers: “I will persevere, because I am sure that a part of the party's base stands behind me.”

In its statement commemorating the 44-year-old, the Pirate Party said: “Faxe, as we called him, was never uncontroversial, was never simple, and he also never had it easy. Every one of us can tell a story about him.

“His work with the Berlin parliament gave him a new path in his life in his district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, he was a tireless campaigner for the Pirates.

“Farewell Faxe! We will miss you.”