BERLIN — Thousands of Germans staged protests across the country against the far-right Alternative für Deutschland following the party's strong showing in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday. Demonstrators warned that the party's momentum posed a danger to two more regional polls scheduled for Sept. 20 in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
In Berlin, a peaceful pro-democracy rally gathered at the Brandenburg Gate. Protesters denounced the anti-immigrant and pro-Russian AfD, which advocates for mass deportations of asylum seekers and seeks to reduce state support for renewable energy and public broadcasting.
Police estimated 5,000 protesters attended the Berlin rally, while organizers reported more than 14,000 participants. Signs displayed messages such as "Fascism is no alternative," "Stop the Nazi AfD: end racism and cuts to social services," and "History has its eyes on us."
The AfD secured nearly 44 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, marking its best-ever state election result and the highest share for a nativist party in Germany since the Nazi period.
Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald memorial, spoke at the Berlin rally and called the AfD's 44 percent result a "disgrace that makes you furious and stunned." He cautioned that the party stood on the brink of taking power in Saxony-Anhalt, saying an AfD government would be a first for the far right since World War II and "should not be accepted in silence."
The AfD fell three votes short of the support required to form a government under its candidate, Ulrich Siegmund. Germany's domestic intelligence agency has designated the Saxony-Anhalt chapter of the AfD as right-wing extremist since 2023, assessing that it poses a threat to democratic norms.
Anti-AfD protests also took place in Potsdam, Münster, Göttingen, Dresden, Aachen, Bamberg and Darmstadt. In Halberstadt, a city in Saxony-Anhalt where the AfD garnered nearly half the votes, local media reported additional rallies. Leftist groups and civil society organizations have maintained a protest camp in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt's second-largest city, since election day.
Poll numbers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania shifted sharply in recent months. In September 2025, the AfD led with 38 percent while the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) stood at 19 percent. A poll released Thursday showed the SPD had overtaken the AfD, with the SPD now polling above 30 percent.
Manuela Schwesig, the SPD state premier, has led the party's comeback. With approximately 30 percent of the vote, the SPD could potentially form a government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania through coalitions with the Left Party, the Christian Democratic Union or both.
Max Schneller, a 17-year-old member of the far-left Linke party from Saxony-Anhalt, said activists would fight any attempts by an AfD government to target minorities. "We are too humane to hate," he said.
