The DVLH had its origins in the power struggle within
Die Republikaner between moderate leader
Franz Schönhuber and his more extreme deputy
Harald Neubauer, which culminated in Schönhuber being forced to temporarily resign in 1990. However he soon gained the upper hand and, returning to the leadership, forced Neubauer out of the party and replaced him as vice-chairman with
Rolf Schlierer.) and the support of the influential
Nation Europa journal. Neubauer,
Rudolf Kendzia and
Jürgen Schützinger were part of a three-man leadership team. Although former NPD chiefs
Martin Mussgnug and
Franz Glasauer were also given leading roles the new group made little impression in the state elections of 1992, the first in which it ran candidates. It gained its first political representation that same year when a
German People's Union (DVU) member of the
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen state legislature joined the party. During the 1990s other DVU members in
Schleswig-Holstein also joined the party, although the process went into decline from 1995 as they returned to the DVU. In the 1996 election the party captured only 0.2% of the Schleswig-Holstein vote, underlining their decline in the area. As a result, the group ceased to organise as a political party in 1997, continuing as a political association. Despite this, they ran in local elections in 2004, capturing 6.2% of the vote and two seats in
Villingen-Schwenningen. ==References==