
The current co-leaders of the AfD are Joerg Meuthen and Tino Chrupalla. Other top national leaders include Beatrix von Storch, Alice Weidel, Alexander Gauland and Stephan Brandner. Gauland, age 79, retired from the leadership position last year, but is still Federal Parliamentary Leader along with Weidel.
Kalbitz, 47, is a close ally to Bjoern Hoecke, AfD state leader in Thuringia. Both are considered influential figures in the party and credited with building the greater popularity the AfD enjoys in the eastern part of Germany. They are associated with a more revisionist interpretation of Germany's war-time history; in 2007 (13 years ago) Kalbitz was photographed at an event hosted by the HDJ (Heimattreuen Deutschen Jugend), an alleged neo-Nazi youth movement that has since been banned.