The Current - Why Germany's far-right AfD has surged in popularity

Episode Date: September 4, 2026

This Sunday Germans head to the polls.  And the far-right Alternative for Germany party—or the AfD—is surging in the eastern state of  Saxony-Anhalt.  If they win, it’ll mark the first time a far-right party has held state power in Germany since the Nazis. The CBC’s Jessica Singer has been on the ground in Saxony-Anhalt, following the campaign and speaking with voters in the state capital, Magdeburg. 

Personally, from CBC Podcasts, allows you to get lost in someone else's life. From a mysterious childhood spent on the run to a courageous escape from domestic violence, each season of personally invites you to explore the human experience in all its complexity, one story or season at a time. This is what it sounds like to be human. Find personally wherever you get your podcasts. This is a series. CBC podcast. I'm Paul Hunter, and this is the current podcast. This Sunday, Germans head to the polls,

and the far-right alternative for Germany Party, or AFD, is surging in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. If they win, it'll mark the first time a far-right party has held state power in Germany since the Nazis. And the outcome of this regional election could trigger a political upheaval in the country. CBC's Jessica Singer has been on the ground in Saxony-on-Halt following the campaign and speaking with voters. She's in the state capital Magdeburg. Hi, Jessica. Hi. So tell us about this region, Saxony-on-Halt.

What's going on right now? So Saxony-on-Halt is an eastern German state, and it used to be a part of East Germany before the Berlin Wall came down. It's one of the country's smallest states with around 2 million people and a lot of rural areas. But no matter where you are in this state, whether it's a small town or a bigger city, things here feel intensely divided. Okay. So for people who don't know, what is the AFD? Yeah. So the AFD began in 2013 as an anti-European Union party mainly focused on the financial crisis, but it began shifting its focus to immigration and national identity in 2015 when hundreds of thousands of refugees came to. to the country from places such as Syria. And what used to be more of a fringe party is now an incredibly popular political movement throughout the country. So the party leads national opinion polls

at 28%. And of course, as we can see here in Saxony-on-Halt, the party is performing very well in numerous states, especially in Germany's east. But I think it's important to note that the AFD is designated as right-wing extremist by the Domestic Intelligence Service in Saxony-on-Halt. And it has that same designation in numerous other states. A lot of this has to do with language the party uses that's been found to violate Germany's constitution. This idea they put forward about how there are two types of Germans, people with German origins, quote unquote, and people who have migrated.

And that even includes people with. citizenship or a German passport. It's also important to mention that members of the party have come under fire for using Nazi slogans and some have ties to former neo-Nazi or ethno-nationalist groups. I've been to numerous AFD events and sometimes there are thousands of people cheering and waving German flags. There was even an event where people showed up with over a thousand motorcycle. which have become a cultural symbol for the party,

and they came to ride through the mountains with Ulrich Ziegmund. He's the party's lead candidate in Saxony-on-Halt, and people were standing on either sides of the road, cheering as the bikes drove and zoomed past in the small town that is typically very quiet. And when I was there, I met 17-year-old Luca Stemler, And even though he can't vote yet, he was still there with his bike showing his support, especially for Ziegmund. He is big from his heart of our hearts.

We all think the same as him. Yeah, we find him also cool. The insta posts he make or Twitter posts, it's very cool. That what he's say and that for what he stands, it's like an idol. Yeah, he's an idol for me. So he's 17 years old. as a teenage boy. I mean, who are their supporters?

So experts have told me that the average AFD voter is more likely to be a young man than a young woman. And I've also been told statistically that voters do have a lower educational background, but they are gaining support across the board, across gender and age groups. But I do have to say that when I'm there, it's clear that the events skew male. You also mention the local party leader, Ulrich Siegman. I mean, what do we know about him? He's 35 years old from a small town in Saxony-on-Halt. He used to be a salesman, and he has become a household name here.

He has over 800,000 followers on TikTok, and supporters really feel like the party, and especially Zygmund, are this beacon of hope for them. I was at another event for the AFD. It was a family festival for supporters in the rural town of Queerfert. They were giving away free beer and sausages and AFD balloons to kids. And something that stuck out to me was I watched people line up. They were there sometimes for hours, even in the rain, to pose for a picture or get Ziegluen to sign a t-shirt with his face plastered on the front. At this rally, he made sure to make this point.

So Paul, there is a right extreme. him saying, here no one is a right-wing extremist, here everyone is extremely in their right. Here's how one AFD supporter sees the party. I know there's been some people in the AFD who've had some political views who are questionable, definitely, but I don't feel at all that any of the party leaders of the party now are still of the far right. It's not extremists. And I don't think that. they should be classed as definitely dangerously far right. I don't think that's a right statement. So I think what he said there really speaks to the growing normalization of the party.

Like what exactly does the party want to do? The AFD wants to introduce something called remigration, which is a controversial term, often understood to mean the mass deportation of people who immigrated to a country. And in Saxony-on-Halt, the AFD promises to significantly ramp up deportations, impose immigration bans on countries it deems problematic, establish hundreds of detention centers for deportees, and even create separate classrooms for refugee children. Inside the world's most famous circus, the real balancing act is offstage.

It's so big and so much pressure and we take more risk. Follow eight Cirque to Soleil performers as they juggle life and work. You have to sacrifice a lot. of things like to leave your dream far from the people that you love. Where risk is part of the routine. We perform with no lines, no safety net, no nothing. Cirque Life, new docuseries. Stream now on CBC Gem.

Remigration, deportation. I mean, how are immigrants reacting to this? I went on a walk the other day, and there was a massive anti-racism protest here in Magdeburg, the capital city. I met Akinola, Sonio. He immigrated to Germany from Nigeria six years ago, and he's had many experiences with racism in the city, but he really wants to stay positive because this is the place where he's built a home. Yeah, sometimes you get home and you cry, but when I'm sharing the tears, I'm also thinking, should I let them win or I make myself happy? They are not in my shoes.

They don't know what it is to be a foreigner. So I know what it is. I'm the one feeling it. So I want to be happy. So, Jessica, some party members have come under fire for downplaying Nazi crimes and downplaying the Holocaust. What about members of Germany's Jewish community? How are they feeling? Yeah, just to touch on what you mentioned there,

one prominent AFD member, Bjorn Herka, told supporters that Germans were the only people in the world who planted a memorial of shame in the heart of their capital, referencing the Holocaust monument in Berlin. And Paul Felix Klein, the federal government commissioner for Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism, has criticized the AFD for promoting anti-Semitic rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and downplaying the Holocaust. I spoke with Max Pirovsky, who's a Jewish community leader in Hala.

Their synagogue was attacked. by a neo-Nazi in 2019. He does actually understand why people want to celebrate Germany and the country's national pride. And he doesn't think this generation should feel like they're held responsible for crimes committed during the Second World War. But he says parties like the AFD will use these very complicated emotions for its own needs. It's a reaction against the years of.

pressure. Children who came after 1945, they have nothing with this. They are not responsible for it. Eight years after the war, I think it's time to change this. It's a pity, but this change come with such parties like AFD. So in other words, he thinks the AFD is the wrong response to those who might say Germany has a right to move on from the atrocities of the Holocaust? Yeah, well, Max Breivrovsky certainly isn't voting for the AFD. He told me a lot of that also has to do with the fact that he came to Germany from the former Soviet Union. And the connections he believes that the AFD has to Russia really worry him. There is a hand of Russia in Germany.

We have to live with this situation. We will see if they obtain enough to organize own government. I don't know. It can happen. It must not happen. Max feels that these ties to Russia are dangerous and attempts to undermine democracy in Germany or any country for that matter. He worries would lead to direct discrimination against minorities, including the Jewish community. And so what else does the part? party want to have on its political agenda? Well, individual states have power over a lot of areas,

including policing, culture, education, and AFD hopes to introduce sweeping changes across the board. Some of the noteworthy goals include normalizing relations with Russia, as we heard Max's concerns about that, changing history lessons in school to focus more on what the party says are the positive aspects of Germany's past and less on the negatives, also teaching kids that a healthy family is a father, mother, and children, even incentivizing citizens of quote-unquote German origin to have as many kids as possible and also banning pride flags in schools. Which begs the question, what are people in the LGBTQ community saying about this? I met with a group of people who recently started a queer collective in the small city of

Desau and they're frightened to be themselves. Knox Eden-Groskopf is one of the members of that queer group in Desau. Me and my partner wish for a kid, but we often talk about it and for us it's not possible because we are afraid that this kid will suffer because we are gay. We will not accept that our kid get bullied or keep the way. from us just because some government think that's their choice to do that. Yeah, we wish for a kid, but we will not have one because we won't get a child to suffer because of us. I also spoke with a local politician named Hans Thomas Till Schneider, and he's often described

as the brain behind a lot of the AFD's cultural policies. And he talked at length to reporters about how there's this rainbow agenda that's being used to undermine traditional family values. When I asked him who's behind this rainbow lobby, he couldn't tell me, but he really romanticized tradition, reassured people or tried to, at least, who have doubts or fears about the party, and pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump as a source of inspiration. He's trying the same in the U.S. what we are trying here. He wants to make America great again. is his famous slogan.

And I would say, make Saxony Anhalt great again. We will make Germany great again. We will rebuild our wealth, our freedom, our liberty. Rejoice, please. Don't be afraid. And so what is it about Saxony Anhalt?

I mean, why has the AFD become so popular in that particular part of Germany? So there is a lingering divide between the countries east and west. Inequality and unemployment remained rampant in East Germany when after the Berlin Wall came down, even though citizens there were promised all of these gained freedoms and opportunities

by reunifying with the West. Statistics show actually that Saxony-on-Halt in particular has the oldest population in one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. The AFD started campaigning, or I guess inserting itself in these rural areas that major mainstream political parties were neglecting and then capitalized on this sentiment that there are these elites in capital cities that serve a globalist agenda.

And German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his center right party is also facing widespread unpopularity right now. So a lot of experts say people are losing faith in established political parties and then look elsewhere for a change. And so what about the rest of the country? Does the AFD have the same amount of traction elsewhere? Support is definitely strongest in the East, but there's a large civil society movement here in Saxony-on-Halt that's trying to fight the rise of the AFD. One of the rallies I went to the motorcycle rally, there were counter-protesters. I approached a family who told me that they were here to fight for German democracy. And what if the AFD wins in Saxony-on-Halt? I mean, what does that mean for the rest of the country?

There is this concept called the firewall in Germany, which is an agreement among the major political parties to not collaborate or form government with any extremist parties, including the AFD. That's a post-war strategy when it's meant to safeguard German democracy and liberal values. But if the AFD secures enough of the votes in Saxony-on-Halt, experts wonder if this symbolic firewall could crumble. Could this mean the AFD could start collaborating with other parties or form governments in other states? Experts also worry the win will give them more leverage nationally. If the party holds state power for the first time, it will sit in the Bundesrat, which is the second federal legislative chamber representing the country's 16 states. It could try to undermine attempts to pass legislation there,

but it's important to remember that experts say Germany has a robust, Constitution that will likely prevent the AFD from bringing in some of these sweeping changes that it's proposing. Ultimately, though, the party wants to run the country. And experts say it does want to enact policies that go against Germany's constitution or even potentially change the rules of the country's democracy. And winning this state election is a big step in normalizing the party as a legitimate political force. Thank you, Jessica. Thanks for having me.

That's the CBC's Jessica Singer in Magdeburg, Germany. You've been listening to the current podcast. I'm Paul Hunter. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.