1870). Small revival The current chairman of the party is Klaus Brall. The party is affiliated with the European Christian Political Movement. In 2022, former Alternative for Germany member Uwe Witt joined the party while still holding his seat in the Bundestag. It is the first time since 1957 that the party has held a seat in the Bundestag. Witt subsequently left in August of the same year. The party also got its first representation in the European Parliament on 10 June 2022, when the former AfD co-chairperson Jörg Meuthen joined the party. He sits as part of the Non-Inscrits group. Ideology and beliefs Although the party's ideology has shifted throughout its existence, it has consistently presented itself through a Christian democratic (particularly Catholic) and socially conservative profile. Until the 1920s, it was seen to occupy the political centre before adopting a right-wing identity at the end of the decade and post-World War Two defining itself as a conservative movement. The party adopted a new program in 2008 in which it stated rejection for the traditional left and right divide of politics and called for a "value-oriented" platform guided by the principles of Christianity and Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. The party supports what it describes as the traditional family unit and is generally opposed to abortion. It has given support to right to life movements in Germany. In an updated policy platform in 2022, the Center Party declares its objective is to protect the "Christian-Jewish roots of Europe and defend the free-democratic basic order of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany." The party supports a social market economy, keeping national debt low and strong social security systems. The party supports the integration of immigrants residing legally in Germany while protecting German national identity and ensuring compulsory laws for immigrants to learn German, understand German culture and undergo a values test before acquiring citizenship. It also calls for strong law and order and national security policies to combat violent crime and terrorism and supports German membership of NATO. Election results German Reichstag/Bundestag Volkstag of Danzig Landesrat of the Territory of the Saar Basin Notes References Further reading Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. Windthorst: A Political Biography (Oxford University Press, 1981). Anderson, Margaret Lavinia. Practicing Democracy: Elections and Political Culture in Imperial Germany (2000) excerpt and text search Anderson, Margaret Lavinia, and Kenneth Barkin. "The myth of