The initial German Reform Party was established in 1880 by Alexander Pinkert, a Saxony-based antisemite, as a strongly antisemitic and palingenetic party, advocating the elimination of the Jews and the rebirth of Germany.
[4] The Deutscher Antisemitenbund, an initiative of Wilhelm Pickenbach, was also included as part of the newly formed party.
[6] The party contested the 1890 German federal election, winning four seats in the Reichstag.
[3][9] The drive for the merger of the two parties had been led by Zimmermann and was unsuccessfully opposed by Böckel.
[10] Following the dissolution of the merged party in 1900 Zimmermann returned to using the DRP moniker and continued to sit in the Reichstag until 1910.