The media hype surrounding the rise of the AfD, an alt-right party in Germany’s post-World War II political establishment, often overlooks the institutional challenges, systemic undercurrents, and transformations in the traditional sociopolitical and economic landscapes since German reunification that have facilitated its emergence as a notable player. However, it faces some critical challenges on its path to legitimate governance.

The rise of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany’s eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt, particularly in the context of the upcoming September 2026 regional elections, has been seen across mainstream narratives as the twin outcomes of years of economic neglect by Berlin and an ideological reorientation of the electorate towards the alt-right. While socio-economic anxieties have historically shaped populist waves across Europe, and a gradual mainstreaming of extremist ethnonationalist worldviews has been woven into party mandates, such as those of the AfD and its supporters, media hype has often overlooked some fundamental trends.

The party has grown from a fringe actor in 2013 to a popular regional stakeholder and the second-largest party in Germany’s Bundestag, or federal parliament, by 2026. The AfD’s rise over the course of nearly a decade and a half has been consolidated on several essential pillars: filling the vacuum that was created due to institutional apathy towards Eastern Germany; the decline of traditional institutions like the Church to historic lows; festering infrastructural neglect; economic volatility, and rejection of mainstream politics.

Dismantling of Traditional Institutions and the Resultant Vacuum in Saxony-Anhalt

Churches in Saxony-Anhalt have cautioned their members against voting for the AfD in the lead-up to the September 2026 elections. Catholic priests have taken a collective stance on the incompatibility of Christian values and ethno-nationalism. This collective stance was put forward in February 2024 at a gathering of the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference, where the participants unanimously adopted a declaration titled ‘Ethnic Nationalism and Christianity are incompatible’, arguing that the ethno-nationalist worldview of the AfD embodies ‘genuine right-wing extremism’.

Warning churchgoers against voting for the ‘blue’ (the party colour of the AfD) on a whim, Bishop Gerhard Feige (Bishop of Magdeburg) more recently pointed out:

Until now, Saxony-Anhalt’s motto has been ‘Thinking Modern’. The AfD wants to replace it with ‘Thinking German’ … The AfD’s election posters speak a very clear language: ‘Save your country’, ‘Take your country back’, ‘Deport from day one!’ What else could that be but ethnonationalism?… (I) could never have imagined that so many people today could once again be so easily led astray, or that arsonists, pied pipers and respectable-looking agitators could emerge, and that so many would fall for them.[1]

Until now, Saxony-Anhalt’s motto has been ‘Thinking Modern’. The AfD wants to replace it with ‘Thinking German’ … The AfD’s election posters speak a very clear language: ‘Save your country’, ‘Take your country back’, ‘Deport from day one!’ What else could that be but ethnonationalism?… (I) could never have imagined that so many people today could once again be so easily led astray, or that arsonists, pied pipers and respectable-looking agitators could emerge, and that so many would fall for them.[1]

However, the churches’ dwindling role as community anchors—with limited influence over the non-religious majority, who account for more than 85 per cent of the region’s 2.1 million citizens—has meant that religion and politics have been overwhelmingly decoupled for most locals.[2] Therefore, the likelihood of priests’ warnings against local AfD candidates is expected to remain minimal, restricted largely to devout practitioners even in the most optimistic scenarios.

AfD: The Party of the People?

Advocacy for community-centric issues has become one of the root causes bolstering the AfD’s regional popularity, regardless of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s (BfV) categorisation of the party as a right-wing extremist group, with parallels being drawn to the National Socialist (Nazi) Party. As a result, understandably, it becomes difficult for locals........

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