The Rise of the Far Right in Germany

The German federal elections on February 23 saw support for the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) grow. The party, led by Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, won the second largest number of seats: 152 out of 630, or 20.8%, exactly doubling the seat total they held after the last federal elections in 2021. In their Manifesto for Germany, the AfD called for a return “to the roots and principles which were fundamental to [Germany’s] economic recovery and subsequent decades of economic and social progress.” They express distaste for the size of the public sector, which they consider too large, as well as for core treaties of the European Union (EU), which they consider violations of German national sovereignty. They denounce the “political cartel” which has power in the government and has chosen to give it away to the EU. They “believe in direct democracy, the separation of powers, the rule of law, social market economics, subsidiarity, federalism, family values, and German cultural heritage.”

The AfD’s opponents, concerned by their far-right, populist tendencies, have expressed concern about their rising popularity. German journalist Fatma Aydemir, writing in The Guardian in 2023, denounced their anti-immigrant rhetoric as dangerous, and contaminating everyday life.

For many, it is ultimately the echoes of the interwar years and the rise of the Nazi party which make the AfD’s movement so terrifying. In 2024, the AfD won a plurality in the state elections in Thuringia. This victory, which marks the first plurality at the state level for a far-right party in Germany since the end of the Second World War, evokes worrying parallels with the Nazi party, which found early electoral success in the same state.

In 1933, when Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany, public opinion was greatly in his favour. He had succeeded in amassing the support of a wide variety of voters, from young voters who felt seen by his populist persona, to the unemployed and the industrialists who believed in the Nazi party’s ability to improve the economy, without forgetting those indignant at the perceived unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles and disappointed by the post-war Weimar Republic’s lack of successes. In 1932, Hitler received about 36.8% of the vote during the German presidential election.

The far right’s rise has been fuelled by newfound support amongst young voters. A poll conducted in Germany in May 2024 found that support for the AfD was especially notable in the 30-44 age group, within which 38% of those surveyed admitted that they would vote for the party. In the election, 21% of voters under 25 voted for the party, a 14 point increase since 2021.

In the European elections of 2024, for which Germany lowered the age of voting eligibility to 16, AfD candidates used social media platforms like Tiktok to communicate with this demographic. Maximilian Krah, the lead AfD candidate in that election,amassed 99.3K followers and a total of 1.3M likes on Tiktok. During the European elections, the AfD obtained the second-most votes after the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union in Bavaria alliance (CDU/CSU). Additionally, the AfD’s Tiktok account devoted to their members in the Bundestag has a staggering 9.8M likes across their videos. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, political and communications consultant Johannes Hillje stated that while there is no correlation between Tiktok use and voter choice, the two cannot be separated. He added that Tiktok played a role in the great gains amongst young voters of the right wing party, although the extent of this causality is difficult to prove. Alice Weidel, the party’s candidate for chancellorship, holds over 887K followers and 8.8M likes on the platform. Whether large social media following is a cause of the party’s widened support base amongst the youth or a result of it has not yet been investigated, but it remains proof of their popularity with this demographic.

As the AfD’s youth support grows, it is also gathering momentum with middle and upper class voters. In an interview, political sociologist Ulf Bohmann stated that “what the AfD is doing is agitation.” He argued that the party creates an attitude of fear and hatred by blaming issues like the housing crisis and rising rents on immigrants. This tactic—creating animosity through the use of a scapegoat—is a common feature of populist politics. Bohmann explains that instead of trying to convince the masses of a message, the AfD exploits a fear or uneasiness that is already present amongst people and amplifies it, directing it towards a specific social group. This fear is particularly potent when individuals fear losing their social standing, and is thus more easily exploitable in middle and upper-class individuals. The AfD has seized upon Germans’ fear of losing their jobs and opportunities.

Directing blame towards immigrants has clearly been effective. According to Human Rights Watch, there was “a significant increase in attacks targeting housing for migrants and asylum seekers” between 2022 and 2023. In past months terror attacks in Germany, the most recent of which took place in Munich on February 15, have further stoked anti-migrant fears.

While support for the AfD has greatly increased in this election, there remains a strong current voicing their opposition to the party. Before the election, several protests were held. On January 11, a protest led by German trade unions in Riesa, Saxony drew thousands of participants, despite the region being amongst the first to host the success of the AfD during state elections which made it the second largest party governing Saxony. On January 26, thousands more in cities across Germany such as Berlin and Cologne protested the rise of the AfD’s far right and anti-immigrant rhetoric. On February 16, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin after US Vice President JD Vance called for Germany to accept a collaboration with the far right.

While the election results clearly express the feeling of the German people—a sentiment of discontent and a desire for change—the continuing rise of the far right in the country and elsewhere is a situation to monitor. While the election results may give the AfD more policy-making power, it’s not over yet, as the center-right CDU still holds the most seats, and Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) remains the third largest party with 16.41% of the vote.