Germany on the streets – Ten thousand people demonstrate again against the AfD – News

  • Tens of thousands of people in Germany once again took part in demonstrations against the AfD.
  • According to initial estimates by the organizers, there were at least 30,000 people in Düsseldorf alone.
  • Prominent politicians also took part in the demonstrations and warned against the AfD.

Thousands of people took to the streets not only in large cities, but also in smaller towns in Germany. In some places with prominent political support: In Sigmaringen, Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) was there privately.

In Osnabrück, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) warned against the AfD at a rally. They want a system change. “That means nothing other than that they want to go back to the dark times of racial madness, discrimination, inequality and injustice.” History should not repeat itself, warned the SPD politician. According to the police and organizers, around 25,000 people were on the streets in Osnabrück.

Trigger of the protests


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The protests were triggered by revelations by the Correctiv research center about a meeting of radical right-wingers on November 25th, in which some AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values ​​Union took part in Potsdam.

The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” at the meeting. When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress. According to Correctiv, Sellner named three target groups: asylum seekers, foreigners with the right to remain – and “unassimilated citizens.”

In Düsseldorf, the demonstration was under the motto “Against the AfD – We will not be silent. We don’t look away. We act!” The protesters included people of all ages, including many families with children. The banners had inscriptions such as “I generally don’t like Nazis.” A 69-year-old, who, in his own words, took part in a demonstration for the first time in decades, said: “If we don’t show our colors now, we’ll go in a direction from which we can’t get out.”

There are also demonstrations in small towns

In Kiel, the organizers counted more than 15,000 participants in a demonstration against right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism. “Our democracy is more stable than the democracy of 100 years ago, but let’s not be too sure,” said Mayor Ulf Kampf (SPD) at the rally.

But people were also on the streets in smaller towns: According to initial information, the police counted 4,000 demonstrators in Singen, and around 2,000 people in Sigmaringen. In Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate, the police spoke of around 1,500 people at an anti-right-wing demonstration.

Already on Friday, thousands of people took to the streets in several cities. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 900,000 people took part in anti-right-wing demonstrations last weekend.

“Our democracy is not God-given”

This Saturday’s demonstrations coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day, when numerous events remember the victims of National Socialism. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the numerous demonstrations against right-wing extremism in the last few days and weeks. «Our democracy is not God-given. It is man-made. She is strong when we support her. And she needs us when she is attacked,” he said in his weekly video “Chancellor Compact”.

Demonstrations against the right also in Austria


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In Austria, tens of thousands of people took part in anti-right-wing demonstrations. According to police estimates, up to 35,000 people gathered in front of the parliament building in Vienna on Friday evening. Under the motto “Defend democracy!” The participants wanted to take a stand against right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism.

People also took to the streets in Innsbruck and Salzburg, following the example of the mass protests against right-wing extremism in Germany. The demonstrations were supported by many civil society and political organizations. At the demonstrations, participants warned that the right-wing FPÖ could come into government after the parliamentary elections. The right-wing populists have been in first place in surveys since the end of 2022 (almost 30 percent), well ahead of the also opposition Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative Chancellor’s Party ÖVP. The connections between the FPÖ and the extreme right-wing identitarians have recently been in the public eye.

New state parliaments will be elected in September in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. According to surveys, the AfD could become the strongest force in all three federal states, even by a significant margin. In two nationwide surveys by the Insa and Forsa institutes this week, the AfD lost popularity, but remained the second strongest force after the Union.

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