Germany's far-right AfD aims for breakthrough in state election
The far-right party is polling above 40% and could become the first to lead a state government in postwar Germany.
- On Sunday, Germany's Saxony-Anhalt region holds a landmark election where the far-right Alternative for Germany is expected to win, potentially securing its first state government since World War II while intensifying attacks on the iconic Bauhaus design school.
- The AfD has targeted the Bauhaus, calling it an "aberration of modernism," with Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer noting the party uses the same words the Nazis used 100 years ago to persecute the school.
- More than 2,500 groups signed a manifesto initiated by Weimer to defend the school against anti-democratic attacks, though the AfD could theoretically cut state funding for the Bauhaus Foundation if it wins the state parliament.
- The election threatens the political "firewall" maintained by mainstream parties to exclude the AfD, which politicians disparage as proof that established parties—termed a political "cartel"—are ignoring the will of voters.
- Candidate Ulrich Siegmund has vowed to "make history" with an agenda including "remigration and deportation" of irregular migrants and abolishing public broadcasting, a shift that would shake German politics and impact regional cultural freedom.
36 Articles
36 Articles
As the weekend approaches in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Alternative for Germany party, which is seeking to win the election and come to power, has targeted one of the region's most prominent cultural legacies - the Bauhaus architecture and design movement that began in the interwar period. The party has pledged to reduce funding for the Bauhaus Foundation and return what it calls a traditional German identity to architecture, art and…
Associated Press News
German far-right party targets iconic Bauhaus school ahead of landmark state election
Nearly a century after the Nazis shut down Germany's world-famous Bauhaus school of design, the art movement has once again become a cultural battleground.
Germany's far-right AfD aims for breakthrough in state election
Voters in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt go to the polls on Sunday in an election where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is hoping to win power for the first time and mark a historic shift in German politics.
Project Syndicate
Germany’s Political Firewall Is Crumbling
The upcoming election in Saxony-Anhalt could give the far-right Alternative für Deutschland control of a state government for the first time in Germany’s postwar history. Its rise offers a crucial lesson for democracies elsewhere: closing ranks against extremist parties is no substitute for effective governance.
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