It achieved notoriety over the summer, when—alongside an assortment of far-right groups—its followers participated in protests that shut down German cities from Berlin to Leipzig. During an August demonstration in Berlin, protesters stormed the steps of the German Bundestag, displaying the red, white, and black flag of Imperial Germany, a symbol that has been adopted by Nazi sympathizers.

In the outcry that followed, Ballweg insisted that the extremists had nothing to do with his movement. Critics reject that claim, even as they struggle to define exactly what Querdenken stands for.