Thousands of people took to the streets across Germany following the Alternative for Germany (AfD) record-breaking performance in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, as opponents of the party sought to rally voters ahead of two more regional elections later this month, The Guardian reported.
At a demonstration at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, protesters gathered for a peaceful pro-democracy rally opposing the AfD, which campaigns against immigration and supports closer ties with Russia. The party has also advocated mass deportations of asylum seekers and reducing state support for renewable energy and public broadcasting.
Police estimated that about 5,000 people attended the Berlin demonstration, while organizers put the figure at more than 14,000. Among the signs carried by protesters were “Fascism is no alternative", “Stop the Nazi AfD: end racism and cuts to social services" and “History has its eyes on us".
The demonstrations came less than two weeks before regional elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, with protesters warning against becoming resigned to the AfD's growing electoral strength following its breakthrough in Saxony-Anhalt.
The AfD won almost 44% of the vote in the eastern state, its strongest-ever result in a state election and the highest level achieved by a nativist party in Germany since the Nazi era.
Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the memorial at the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, described the result from the Berlin stage as a “disgrace that makes you furious and stunned".
He warned that the AfD had come close to securing enough support to govern Saxony-Anhalt, which would mark the first time a far-right party has taken power at the state level in Germany since World War II. Such a development, Wagner said, “should not be accepted in silence".
The AfD currently needs three additional votes to obtain the backing required to form a state government under Ulrich Siegmund, its candidate and a prominent figure with a strong media presence. Siegmund is seeking support from lawmakers in other parties who could determine whether he is able to take power. Der Spiegel recently referred to him as “the most dangerous man in Germany".
Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch as rightwing extremist since 2023, citing what it considers a threat to democratic norms.
Anti-AfD demonstrations were also held in Potsdam, near Berlin, as well as Münster, Göttingen, Dresden, Aachen, Bamberg, Darmstadt and Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt, according to local media. In Halle, the state's second-largest city, left-wing groups and civil society organizations have maintained a protest camp since the election.
The possibility of an AfD-led state government carries particular historical significance in Germany, where mainstream political forces have traditionally sought to prevent extremist movements from gaining power against the backdrop of the country's Nazi history and the Holocaust.
Founded in 2013, the AfD has repeatedly drawn criticism over comments by senior figures regarding Germany's Nazi past and the Holocaust. In February 2017, AfD leader Björn Höcke sparked widespread condemnation after calling for Germany to abandon its longstanding approach of confronting and atoning for its Nazi history.
A year later, AfD chairman Alexander Gauland described the Nazi period as a "speck of bird poo in over 1,000 years of successful German history". Gauland had previously said that Jews should not be afraid of the AfD's strong electoral performance and said he was prepared to meet German Jewish leaders “at any time."
Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said following Sunday's vote, "I am personally appalled by this election result."
Schuster has previously warned that large numbers of Jews could leave Germany if the AfD were to enter a future government.