In the current electoral cycle, Germans of a particular political persuasion can vote for the slightly left-of-center Social Democrats (SPD), the even more left-of-center Greens, the straightforward left that calls itself The Left party (Die Linke), the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), or the decayed remains of the former East German Communist Party.
But for all those red-, pink-, green- or rainbow-colored voters under a Marmalade sky, the election in one German state a couple of weeks ago must have felt like the arrival of Götterdämmerung. It was a catastrophe not only for the fractured Left, but also for the right-of-center Christian Democrats (CDU) — the nation’s most powerful political party since Germans stopped using American Lucky Strikes and Pall Mall cigarettes for currency in bombed-out Berlin in 1945.
On Sept. 6, in Saxony-Anhalt, the right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD) won the state’s election in a landslide with 44% of the vote. Since Germany’s embrace of democracy at the outset of the Cold War, no political party on the extreme right or the extreme left has ever won a national or state election.
The AfD has gradually made electoral gains since its formation in 2013. It is almost always labeled “far-right” or even Nazi in mainstream media. A few AfD leaders are openly neo-Nazi, but overall, it is a populist movement. The AfD endorses a strict immigration policy and unequivocally declares “Islam does not belong in Germany.” That is harsh but not Nazi. When 44% of the voters in an open society choose a party on the right, that is democracy in action, and it is the mainstream parties that are extreme in their refusal to recognize they have lost the argument with voters.
At times, the AfD seems to relish flirting with Hitler as a provocation rather than a platform. For example, one of its leaders, Bjorn Hocke, has been fined for using the Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany.” Same goes for another favorite: “Our Country First.” This is rather innocuous, more colorful than dreadful, a quite normal way of thinking about your country.
Moreover, how Germans remember the years 1933-1945 is fraught with difficulty. Here’s a statement from the AfD calling on Germans to end their fixation on the darkest years: “German history must be appreciated in its entirety. The official culture of remembrance must not focus only on the low points of our history; it must also keep the highlights in view. A people without national consciousness cannot endure in the long run.”
This is a reasonable way of coming to grips with the past. Conservatives in this country shouted out almost exactly the same words a few years ago. Only the date on the historical calendar changed. 1933 in Germany; 1619 in the United States. Here’s the New York Times key takeaway on that year: The country’s true birth date is not July 4, 1776, but one day in August of 1619, “when a ship arrived in Virginia which carried more than 20 enslaved Africans who were sold to the colonists.” Dwelling on the sins of the past is always an excellent weapon in the struggle for social justice.
Whether this mix of outrage, populism, and toxic political discourse slathered with dark humor can continue to grow and prosper remains to be seen. Unlike its mainstream competitors, the AfD has demonstrated its ability to inspire, to offer a glimmer of hope in what at times feels like a hopeless situation for ordinary Germans. This party on the right also has an important German tradition working in its favor: a deep affection for order, stability, and discipline.
On Sunday, the AfD will get another shot at capitalizing on the growing ineffectiveness of both mainstream and marginal parties in the face of economic stagnation, cultural grievances, and a future of dead ends. Two more state elections in Mecklenburg — Western Pomerania and Berlin will again test the waters for the AfD. Polls indicate the upstart party is in the lead in the coastal state in north-east Germany. Berlin is another matter.
In Germany’s political structure, Berlin is both a city and one of the 16 states. PolitPros polling has Die Linke slightly ahead of the CDU and AfD — all three hovering around 20% of the vote. If the Left party does win, it will be a wound but not the end of the AfD. It is not unusual for Berlin to go left while the rest of the country goes right.
Bob Armstrong is the author of the memoir, No Exit from Vietnam, and a contributing writer to Thursday Review, an online magazine.