AfD takes over the Simson family - the family fights back, MZA just wants to make money

AfD politicians are taking over Simson. The family defends itself against this. And the Thuringian spare parts manufacturer MZA? Just want to make money. The Simson business is not easy.

Simson: The AfD is appropriating the brand for its election campaign. Photo: Imago (2), MZA [M]

Meiningen. An engine roars. A flock of different colored Samsons moves across the country road. Plus a fast DJ beat, a retro filter over everything. With each cut of the Tiktok video, the camera shows other drivers on one of the cult mopeds from the GDR. In the middle: Ulrich Siegmund, white T-shirt, blue swallow.

Cut. Siegmund, the AfD politician and winner of the Saxony-Anhalt election, is standing on a stage: "Say what we are experiencing here in the East. We are taking advantage of the political conditions. That's why we won't let our freedom and way of life be taken away," he shouts into the microphone. Cut. Applause. Cut.

It is perhaps a West German phenomenon that Simson has only been known since AfD politicians started campaigning with her - since Thuringia's head of government Mario Voigt (CDU) criticized AfD politician Björn Höcke for the appropriation, since a spokesman for the founding family came forward and called the connection to the AfD "repulsive". In short: since the Simson is no longer a simple moped from the East, but a political issue.

The mopeds have not been manufactured for a long time. If you need a spare part, you can't ignore one company - MZA. Its managing director has Simson to thank for his rise - his company grew with the cult for years. But now this is exactly what is becoming a stress test.

The Meyer Zweiradtechnik logo “MZA” is emblazoned in blue and white letters on the glass facade of the building in Meiningen. A robotic lawnmower works its way across the wide meadow areas in front of the halls in southwest Thuringia. Falko Meyer's company MZA is located on an area of ​​30,000 square meters and produces spare parts itself or markets them to 1,200 dealers and workshops. According to Meyer, almost exclusively Simson spare parts.

MZA: The company started as a garage business in Kassel. Photo: Annika Keilen/Handelsblatt

He could never have imagined that the Simson boom would gain such momentum, says Meyer. In 2024, as the latest annual report shows, his company recorded sales of almost 19 million euros. Will Simson's politicization by the AfD increase his sales? "No. Complete nonsense," Meyer replies shortly, adding later: "Stop prodding. I'm staying out of it." Meyer is - as his story shows - definitely a political person.

How Meyer came to his Simson success

Meyer, born in 1964, grew up in Chemnitz, worked on his Simson in his youth and rattled around with it through the surrounding forests. He later worked in a steel construction company in Chemnitz. But the gap between the GDR's shortage economy, the lack of screws and drills and what school taught about the economy was no longer bearable for him. “I see the truth and am a critical person.” Plus the collectivism that didn't suit him: "I always wanted to do my own thing."

So Meyer decided to leave the GDR before the Berlin Wall came down. Officially there wasn't even an exit point. He found out through informal channels where to register to leave the country, demonstrated at the Monday demonstrations against the GDR, and was interrogated by the Stasi several times. He was finally allowed to apply in the spring of 1988, and he left for the West on June 3, 1989.

When he arrived in Kassel, Meyer worked in a metal factory and says: “I didn’t really care what I was doing.” But he was free to decide again. In his free time, he restored his motorcycle, a Simson AWO, on a farm. At some point people came to his farm with a swallow, heard that someone here knew about Simsons, and asked if he could help with the repairs. Meyer sensed a deal.

At the end of 1992 he bought the first moped in the East, repaired it and sold it in the West. Soon he was commuting every weekend, selling at vintage car markets and shipping spare parts from his garage in Kassel. When the prices of mopeds rose, he shifted his focus to spare parts. Then in 1994 his employer in Kassel cut staff and Meyer made the Simson business his main job. "Back in the 90s there was a sense of optimism. You jump into the water and can swim."

Falko Meyer: He sensed the Simson business after reunification. Photo: PR MZA

He built a barn in Ahnatal near Kassel - “it didn’t even have heating or a toilet”. The A in MZA still stands for this original location today. In 1996 he met a Taiwanese man at a trade fair and from then on he started producing there. Larger and larger halls followed. And finally, when the Suhl company Simson went bankrupt in 2002, MZA bought the inventory and extensive copyrights.

It is not known exactly how many Simsons are on the roads today. Not every vehicle requires registration. However, the Dresden Transport Museum estimates that there are several 100,000 Simson mopeds.

Why is Samson so successful?

Falko Meyer attributes Simson's success and thus his own success to three things.

Firstly, because the unification agreement was well negotiated for the Samsons after the fall of communism. Because Simsons were allowed to drive 60 km/h in the GDR. According to inventory protection, the mopeds that first came into circulation on February 28, 1992 are still allowed to drive 60 km/h today and are therefore ten km/h faster than today's standard mopeds.

Secondly, the Simson is robust, says Meyer. “You can always repair them.” There is still a large range of repair manuals for Simson vehicles available today. “Describing how a vehicle is assembled from individual parts is no longer the case with new vehicles today,” says Meyer.

And thirdly, he is particularly pleased because it also fulfills him as an entrepreneur, says Meyer. "I'm not just talking to the consumer, but to the fan. There's passion." Samson is a reminder of youth and freedom. “I was able to go to the swimming pool or the disco with my girlfriend without my parents.” Over the many years after reunification, a cult around the vehicles developed. “A coffee machine breaks at some point, but Simson has eternal life thanks to the simple repair and the cult.”

The Federal Government's Eastern Commissioner, Elisabeth Kaiser (SPD), once explained it to the DPA news service like this: "For me, the Simson does not stand for Ostalgie, but for the fact that East German engineering still enriches the entire country."

A Simson spoke wheel: An employee makes a spoke wheel. Photo: Annika Keilen/Handelsblatt

So it seems no wonder that politicians in the East are trying to ensure that the Samson cult lives on. The state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt recently decided that in the future, mopeds brought back from abroad will be allowed to drive at 60 km/h under certain conditions. The spare parts manufacturer MZA then announced that it expected increasing demand. And they also contribute a little to the cult themselves. MZA is a sponsor of the vehicle museum in Suhl, which exhibits the history of the Simson building. They also organized one of the largest gatherings for Simson fans for more than ten years, the STS Festival.

And then the right ones came to Samson

Sören Marotz, exhibition director at the GDR Museum Berlin, used to deliver letters for the post office on a Simson when he was still “very young”. A swallow. A company vehicle. But not one he liked. The Schwalbe was considered quite outdated compared to Western vehicles and was uncool for young people, says Marotz. The sportier Simson models S50/51 were already more popular, “but actually every young person had the goal of driving a motorcycle.” Only they were a bit more expensive and you could only drive them from the age of 16 and not from the age of 15.

In any case, the Simsons weren't on the streets so often in the GDR because they were so popular, says Marotz. "A car was difficult to get. You waited years for a Trabi." According to him, the hype about the Simson is not primarily based on the Simson himself. “The hype exists because Björn Höcke and other AfD officials are out and it is strengthened accordingly.”

Simson hype: Björn Höcke organized a Simson trip together with the AfD. Photo: IMAGO/Christian Heilwagen

Leif-Erik Holm, AfD election winner in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, also leads a Simson ride with his gray Simson, during which participants wave the Germany or AfD flag. Ulrich Siegmund rolled up with a swallow on election Sunday to cast his vote in the Saxony-Anhalt election. And the youth of the AfD advertise with the slogan “Simson instead of cargo bikes”.

What does Meyer think of that? “We don’t do politics, we produce spare parts.” The mopeds are on the street. The MZA managing director replies that whoever takes part in the trips and sits on them does not notice them.

STS Festival in Suhl: Political symbols are undesirable. Photo: MZA

Today, says Meyer, he is less aggressive than in the GDR era. Just this much about the AfD: He upholds the name Simson and is in contact with his relatives. The original company Simson & Co. was founded in 1856 by two Jewish brothers. In 1934 the Hitler regime expropriated the Simson family.

The Simson family no longer had anything to do with moped production. Before the expropriation, the company produced weapons, bicycles and cars. Nevertheless, the descendant and spokesman for the community of heirs, Dennis Baum, who lives in the USA, does not want his name to be associated with the AfD. “We are a Jewish family, and the AfD has a clearly anti-Semitic stance,” he tells the Handelsblatt.

When he and the other descendants saw the name Simson printed on AfD T-shirts and posters, a limit had been crossed. The Simson family defended itself clearly against the use of the name on stages and in the media. The T-shirts no longer exist. They couldn't do anything about the tours. "In theory, these are nice, healthy events. It's a shame that they have become a political football," says Baum.

At the end, Falko Meyer speaks quietly and says: "Germany hasn't had any economic growth for years. That can worry you." And sighs. End of the topic, he doesn't want to comment further on the AfD.

A coffee machine will eventually break, but Samson has eternal life. Falko MeyerMZA boss

It doesn't have to, says Knut Bergmann, political scientist and head of communications at the German Economic Institute (IW): "Abstention is a legitimate position." An entrepreneur has to ask himself what political capture means for his business, and especially in AfD strongholds, companies have to weigh up whether they can win the discourse. Especially since not every entrepreneur has the resources to take care of it, and even if an entrepreneur just says that he finds the appropriation unfortunate, that may raise questions.

If entrepreneurs don't respond positively to the AfD, what happens to entrepreneurs like Meyer is really "bad luck," says Bergmann.

Historian Stefan Wolle also says that in the worst case scenario it would be additional publicity if MZA was upset about the AfD. “That would be like the “Spiegel” cover photo, where Ulrich Siegmund created a cult around the cover by signing the cover.” “Der Spiegel” printed Ulrich Siegmund on its cover a few weeks ago with the headline: “The most dangerous man in Germany.” Siegmund then held up the signed “Spiegel” to cameras with a broad smile.

The AfD's election campaign for the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt: AfD top candidate Ulrich Siegmund signed the magazine “Der Spiegel” to two potential voters. Photo: IMAGO/Karina Hessland

MZA managing director Meyer would prefer not to deal with all the political stuff at the moment. There's another thing on his mind at the moment anyway. The Samson boom became too big.

So the hype became a business problem

That’s why Meyer has now started the “360° Logistics Outsourcing” program. MZA now also offers logistics services. “We are still looking for partners for our logistics business,” says Meyer, who is probably also speaking to Handelsblatt for this reason.

However, he doesn't want to read the sales for 2025 in the newspaper. Just this much: Business was going very well during Corona, working on Simsons in garages fit the times. MZA planned to expand a high-bay warehouse that will offer an additional 10,000 storage spaces since 2023.

Falko Meyer in the warehouse: He is adapting his business model. Photo: Annika Keilen/Handelsblatt

But overall the business has changed. Because some of the customers, the dealers, are now buying more and more from the Far East themselves. At the same time, the market is shifting to the Internet, says Meyer. “That means tougher competition that we face.” So they are adapting the business model: more logistics and also a new end customer business that MZA launched this year. “Our aim is not to wait, but to actively shape things,” writes Meyer in a brochure in which he explains his move.

More: A look behind the scenes of the AfD campaign in Saxony-Anhalt

First publication: September 25, 2026, 4:00 a.m.

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