[2] It was founded in July 2000 by the judge Ronald Schill and was temporarily very successful in Hamburg, winning 19.4% of the votes in the 2001 state election and joining a coalition government.

He was known in the local tabloid press for passing unusually severe sentences and advocating harsher penalties,[3] especially for adolescent delinquents, winning the nickname of "Judge Merciless".

In the 2001 Hamburg state parliament elections it instantly came third and received 19.4% of votes (only 7 points behind the major conservative CDU) and 25 of the 121 seats in the assembly.

[13] During the campaign, it had accused the state government of insufficient action against criminality, drugs, violence, demanding more police and tougher sanctions.

It benefitted from a general feeling of insecurity that had spread after the September 11 attacks in the United States,[2] especially given that three of the terrorists had lived and studied in Hamburg.

[15] In Spring 2003, Mario Mettbach was elected federal chairman of the party, while Schill continued to lead the Hamburg state branch.