Tens of Thousands Protest in Germany Against the Rise of the Far Right: NPR

People gather as they protest against the AfD party and right-wing extremism in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Saturday, January 20, 2024. A banner reads “Never again 1933.”

Michael Probst/AP

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People gather as they protest against the AfD party and right-wing extremism in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Saturday, January 20, 2024. A banner reads “Never again 1933.”

Michael Probst/AP

BERLIN — Tens of thousands of people protested against the far right in cities across Germany on Saturday, attending events that raised slogans such as “Never again now,” “Against hate” and “Defend democracy.” The large crowds were the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gained momentum in recent days.

The demonstrations followed a report that right-wing extremists recently met to discuss deporting millions of migrants, including some with German citizenship. The meeting was attended by some members of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Police said the Saturday afternoon protest in Frankfurt attracted 35,000 people. Demonstrations in Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Hanover, among other cities, also attracted large crowds.

A similar demonstration Friday in Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city, attracted what police said was a crowd of 50,000 people and had to be ended early because the crowd of people led to safety concerns.

Additional protests scheduled for Sunday in other major German cities, including Berlin, Munich and Cologne, are also expected to attract tens of thousands of people.

Although Germany has seen other anti-far-right protests in recent years, the scale and scope of this weekend's protests – not just in major cities, but also in dozens of small towns across the country – is notable.

Saturday's crowds were a sign that the protests appear to be galvanizing popular opposition to the AfD in a new way. What began as relatively small gatherings have evolved into protests that, in many cases, attract far more participants than organizers expected.

The catalyst for the protests was a report by media outlet Correctiv last week about an alleged far-right meeting in November, which it said was attended by figures from the extreme identity movement and the AfD party. The report said that a prominent member of the Identity Movement, Austrian citizen Martin Sellner, presented his vision of “bringing back immigration” to deportations.

The AfD sought to distance itself from the extremist meeting, saying it had no organizational or financial ties to the event, that it was not responsible for what was discussed there, and that members who attended did so in a purely personal capacity. However, Alice Weidel, one of the leaders of the AfD, broke with an adviser who was there, while also denouncing the report itself.

The protests also build on growing concern over the past year about growing support for the AfD among German voters.

People gather as they protest against the AfD party and right-wing extremism in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Saturday, January 20, 2024.

Michael Probst/AP

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Michael Probst/AP

People gather as they protest against the AfD party and right-wing extremism in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Saturday, January 20, 2024.

Michael Probst/AP

The AfD was founded as a Eurosceptic party in 2013 and entered the German parliament for the first time in 2017. Opinion polls now place it in second place nationally at around 23%, much higher than the 10.3% it won during the federal election Last in 2021.

Last summer, AfD candidates won the party's first municipal and district council elections, the first far-right party to do so since the Nazi era. In the state elections of Bavaria and Hesse, the party made significant gains.

The party is leading in several states in eastern Germany, the region where it has stronger support – including three states, Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia, which are scheduled to hold elections this fall.

As a result, Germany is now grappling with how best to respond to the party's popularity.

Widespread anger over the Korektiv report has led to renewed calls for Germany to consider a ban on the AfD. On Saturday, the Brandenburg branch of Germany's Green Party voted at a party conference in favor of a possible ban to help prevent the emergence of a “new fascist government in Germany.”

However, many AfD opponents have spoken out against this idea, arguing that the process would be long, its success highly uncertain, and could benefit the party by allowing it to portray itself as a victim.

Elected officials from across the political spectrum, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, expressed their support for the protests.

“From Cologne to Dresden, from Tübingen to Kiel, hundreds of thousands will take to the streets in Germany in the coming days,” Schulz said in his weekly video statement, adding that the demonstrators’ efforts are an important symbol “of our democracy and against right-wing extremism.”

Friedrich Merz, head of the center-right Christian Democrats, said the protests show that Germans are “against all forms of hatred, against incitement, and against forgetting history.”

He told the German News Agency (DPA): “The silent majority is raising its voice and showing that it wants to live in a global and free country.”

Interest in and support for the protests extends beyond the political sphere. Prominent figures in sports, entertainment and business also commented on it.

Bayern Munich football coach Thomas Tuchel spoke against right-wing extremism in a press conference on Saturday, saying: “There is no doubt about it, we stand 1000% against any kind of extremism.” For such a message, he added, “there can never be too many votes.”