Key facts
- The far-right AfD party is leading polls in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of state elections on September 6.
- The AfD manifesto calls Germany's memory culture a 'guilt complex' and seeks to teach less about Hitler.
- The party proposes raising the German flag daily at public schools and preserving war memorials.
- Domestic intelligence has classified the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch as anti-democratic and permeated by racist ideology.
- Critics accuse the AfD of downplaying Nazi history and threatening cultural institutions with plans to cut funding for 'anti-German' art.
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is poised to potentially take power in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, leading in polls ahead of state elections on September 6. The party's platform includes a significant revision of Germany's historical narrative, advocating for less emphasis on the Nazi past and more focus on national pride and earlier historical periods.
AfD supporters, like Gerd in Querfurt, believe Germany should move past its "guilt complex" and focus on a history of "poets and thinkers." The party's manifesto describes the current "memory culture" as a "guilt complex." If elected, the AfD plans to alter school history curricula in Saxony-Anhalt, emphasizing the century before World War I and II, while still teaching about National Socialism "but somewhat less so," according to Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, who developed the program. The slogan "More Bismarck, less Hitler" encapsulates this approach.
This agenda is deeply divisive in Germany, where confronting Nazi crimes is considered a moral cornerstone. Critics, including theatre director Frank Martin Widmaier, argue that the AfD's plans, such as cutting funding for "anti-German" art, echo Nazi propaganda and threaten cultural institutions. The Nazi regime famously displayed art deemed unacceptable in its 1937 "Degenerate Art Exhibition."
The AfD has consistently rejected allegations of extremism and comparisons to National Socialism. However, senior figures, including potential state premier Ulrich Siegmund, have faced scrutiny for attending a meeting with Austrian far-right activist Martin Sellner, who champions "remigration." Siegmund defends the party's patriotism agenda, stating it is "the most normal thing in the world" to be proud of one's country and that they want to teach history "in its entirety, with all its highs and lows but with pride and a positive outlook."
Domestic intelligence has classified the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch as anti-democratic and permeated by a "racist ideology." Despite this, the party aims for a parliamentary majority, a rare feat in German politics. If successful, the AfD would control key services including culture, policing, and education, marking a significant shift in post-war German politics and a test for its "patriotism agenda."