Germany

Exit poll data shows not only a remarkable voting trend among under-25s but a transformation in the way general voters view the hard-right party

The resounding defeat of Germany’s ruling parties in Saxony and Thuringia has inevitably prompted a great deal of gossip-mongering about whether the chancellor might be ousted or his coalition might finally fall apart.

The conjecture is not completely futile. Even if the government is likely to hold together through sheer inertia and fear of something worse, there is certainly plenty of mischief afoot.

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, is struggling to hold his coalition government together after what he described as a “bitter” victory for the radical right in the eastern state of Thuringia.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, after a campaign spearheaded by the unapologetically ethno-nationalist Björn Höcke, won 32.8 per cent of the vote on Sunday. AfD was more than nine points ahead of its closest rival.

It was the first time a hard-right party had come first in an election at this level since the Nazi era.

Germany’s anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on course for victory in the eastern state of Thuringia, according to projections.

The AfD is set to win 32.8% of the vote, says a projection for public broadcaster ARD, nine points ahead of the conservative CDU, and far in front of Germany’s three governing parties.

If confirmed, it would give the far right its first vote win in a state parliament since World War Two, although it has little hope of forming a government in Thuringia.

The far right is on the cusp of winning the most votes in German state elections for the first time since the Nazis.

For some in Germany, the rise of Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a literal nightmare.

But others, particularly in the east, say the AfD is a chance for change.

All year, the temperature has been rising in German politics and Sunday’s vote in Thuringia and Saxony may be the boiling point.

The anti-immigration, anti-globalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is set to achieve its best ever election result as it contests two regional elections in the states of Saxony and Thuringia on Sunday, September 1st.

If confirmed, such results would signal a spectacular rejection of Germany’s ruling parties and could strengthen populist voices across Europe.

Germany’s hard-right AfD party has been accused of employing Nazi symbolism in an election campaign poster featuring a man and a woman with arms outstretched in what critics have said clearly resembles a Hitler salute.

Their fingertips meet to form a roof over three fair-haired children alongside the slogan “We’ll Protect Your Children”.

The outrage caused by the German interior ministry’s decision to ban the right-wing Compact magazine is not dying down as more and more legal experts weigh in on the subject. It is not surprising that lawmakers of the leftist-liberal government are pleased to see a government-critical media outlet silenced, but experts on constitutional law have made it clear that the ban amounts to nothing less than an attack on the freedom of the press.

I taught humanities to hundreds of students at two international schools in Germany over a period of several years. My primary subject was history and each time it came to covering World War II, British kids were excited; American kids were broadly well-informed; and the German kids dreaded it. Their heads dropped at the very mention of the unit. I vividly remember Laura, an 8th grader, say, “We’re the bad guys and everyone hates us. We did nothing—our parents weren’t even born.” That is quite a weight to carry before a single class had been taught.