‘We are the party of the youth!’ When the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party launched its state election campaign over the summer in the former east Germany, its lead candidate for Brandenburg Christoph Berndt confidently declared that the party would do well thanks to the legions of young voters it had seduced. Today, as the dust settles on the results of Thuringia and Saxony’s state elections, it appears that Berndt’s predictions have come to pass.
According to data published by the pollsters Infratest Dimap, 38 per cent of those aged between 18 and 24 voted for the AfD in Thuringia on Sunday. In neighbouring Saxony, 31 per cent did the same. In both states, the party was able to increase its vote share among this age group by at least 11 per cent to become the most popular party with young Germans. Approximately one in three Germans under the age of 34 voted for the AfD.
Approximately one in three Germans under the age of 34 voted for the AfD
Politicians in Berlin will be viewing this weekend’s results with mounting panic. With a year to go until Germany’s federal election, it is hard to deny the AfD’s claim that it is the ‘party of the future’ – at least in eastern parts of Germany, based on this weekend’s results. By contrast, the parties of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s traffic light coalition (the Greens, FDP and SPD) have managed just a cumulative 17 per cent in Saxony and 13 per cent in Thuringia.
There are several reasons for the AfD’s success with Germany’s young people – none of which have a straightforward solution. With a stagnating economy, a growing housing crisis and the government’s insistence on implementing expensive net zero policies, such as a ban on combustion engine cars and gas boilers, the AfD’s conservative attitude to these issues feels refreshing for many – and, surprisingly, has drawn in a younger voter demographic.
The party has been particularly successful at connecting with Gen Z voters over social media. On TikTok and Instagram, the AfD’s simplistic messaging – mostly centred around a fervently anti-migrant rhetoric – has resonated with young people. Alexander Klause, 29, stood as a candidate in the Thuringian city of Erfurt. When I spoke to him in July, he said he believed Germany’s youth is bearing the brunt of the economic and societal issues the country is facing, most of which, according to him, have a root in migration. ‘Young people travel on trams, they sit in buses, they are out and about in public places at night and are, of course then subjected to violence, which is largely committed by foreigners.’ He hastily followed up: ‘There are always exceptions, of course. I don’t want to generalise.’
The AfD’s opposition to lending support to Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia has also struck a chord with many young Germans. The party has framed its desire for Ukraine to hasten the start of peace negotiations with Russia as an issue of peace and security for Germany – although their critics would suggest this is, in fact, appeasement of president Putin and his regime. Nevertheless, for young Germans scared that an escalation in the war could lead to their country, and them, being directly sucked into a wider conflict, the AfD’s message has patriotic appeal. One AfD supporter I spoke to in Thuringia, 32-year-old Bastian Michaelson, explained why the party appealed to him: ‘I’m a patriot through and through and very attached to history, especially German history. And that’s why for me it feels intuitive to support every patriotic movement and party that presents itself to this country.’
This weekend’s results build on the successful outcome for the AfD in June’s European election when 16 per cent of 16-24 year olds voted for the party. That, by and large, they have been able to double that with a smaller voter demographic (voting age in the European elections is lower), will be viewed as a triumph by the party.
Despite the AfD’s success over the weekend, coming first overall in Thuringia and second in Saxony, the ‘firewall’ thrown up around them by their opponents means the likelihood that they will take any meaningful power at a state level is shrinking. But the success they have had amongst the country’s young people is bound to buoy the AfD as it looks ahead to next year and the campaign to take Berlin by storm.
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