Germany is certainly a country with a rich history dating back to the age of Charlemagne with east Frankia (Frankfurt still being the financial hub of Germany), through the age of the Holy Roman Empire and city state alliances such as the Hanseatic league, with the sadly more infamous and dark stain on an otherwise illustrious country, the age of Nazism and Hitler being perhaps the most significant Part of it. However, the rise of the far right in Germany, while historical, is also taking place right now, something that could have monumental waves on the world as the election in 1933 did.
I first got the inspiration for this article through the book The Granddaughter by Bernhard Schlink. It raised some concerning images of different parts of Germany and their beliefs today. Indeed, the “granddaughter” in the book idolises Rudolf Hess (a Nazi) as well as Irma Grese, the so-called “butcher of Auschwitz”, who led a death march to Bergen-Belsen. Naturally, I was astonished, and I did some research. There are multiple neo-Nazi groups in Germany today, such as Artgemeinschaft and, most concerning, the Alternative für Deutschland, the most popular party in Germany according to opinion polls. At this point, I asked myself, How could Germany allow this to happen again? Something that destroyed their history, their people and committed the most atrocious crimes against mankind. Had they not learnt, had the world not learnt?
The Rise of the far right has become increasingly concerning in Germany over the last ten years. The group spearheading this is the previously mentioned AFD. In 2013, they polled at 5%; however, in the national election of 2025, they polled at 20.8% of the vote, making them the second largest party in all of Germany.
So who are the AFD, what do they want, and why are they labelled as far right? They are strongly against immigration, especially against Muslims and Islam in general. They endorsed rallies such as PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamification of west in English). This clearly shows anti-Islamic sentiment associated with extremist groups. Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has formally designated the
AFD as a “right-wing extremist”, with other parties in German politics implementing a “firewall” and refusing to work with them due to their right-wing status. Their main voter base is from the east of Germany, the region with less money, employment and a lower standard of living, leading to a rise in anger, typically causing more parties based around populism, such as the AFD, to succeed.
The allegations of racism and Nazi tendencies in the AFD are also founded on good evidence. Björn Höcke, a leading member of the AFD in Thuringia, was fined €13,000 for using the phrase “Alles für Deutschland”, a slogan associated with the Nazi SA paramilitary force. He also said that the Berlin holocaust memorial was a “monument of shame”, clearly minimising and degrading the significance of the Holocaust in German history. A former Senior AFD politician, Alexander Gauland, said that the Nazi period was only “a speck of bird droppings in over 1,000 years of glorious German history”, once again trying to normalise the atrocities of the nazi regime. An unnamed AFD member implied that fewer women were in the party due to “natural selection”, clearly showing a misogynistic viewpoint that should have no place in politics. Maximilian Krah said that many members of the Nazi SS were “simple farmers who didn’t have another choice”, conveniently ignoring the role of the SS in running death camps and that the SS was a force of Nazi fanatics, not the regular German army.
These events are only a few in the ever-expanding web of AFD scandals and allegations that face this political party. The party has been marred with the label of being a home for “neo-nazis”, something they would vehemently disagree with, but clearly is more true than false. Many groups that campaign against them use the term “anti fascist”, showing how they are viewed in German society.
However, I believe they do not represent the whole of German society, not even the majority. They are not the largest party; the CDU, a centrist party, is in power. As Napoleon said, “Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent”. The silent majority in Germany need to be louder to stop this new far-right party. As Mark Twain said, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”. I fear that the first far-right party since the Nazis might try to turn Germany back into something from its dark past, a scary thought that shouldn’t be allowed to become a reality in this new and hopefully better world. Therefore, in order to prevent its past from twisting its future, Germany must combat this new party so that the horrors of fascism may never rise to power again.
Bibliography:
The granddaughter by Bernard Schlinck- pg 183
1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/14/german-court-fines-afd-bjorn-hocke-using-banned-nazi-phrase
2. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-afd-bjoern-hoecke-berlin-holocaust-memorial-shame-history-positive-nazi-180-turnaround-a7535306.html
3. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/alexander-gauland-hitler-nazis-holocaust-comments-response-germany-mp-afd-a8383051.html
4. https://news.sky.com/story/maximilian-krah-german-far-right-afd-partys-leading-candidate-steps-back-after-saying-members-of-ss-not-all-criminals-13141336
5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/02/german-spy-agency-afd-confirmed-rightwing-extremist-force
