The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) looks set to become the second largest party in the German parliament following elections on February 23. Polls ahead of the election and an exit poll suggest they could receive around 20% of the final vote tally. For the first time, the AfD poses a challenge to mainstream parties’ longstanding strategy of isolating the far right.
The rise of the AfD is striking, given the country’s history of authoritarianism and National Socialism during the 1930s and 1940s. For decades, far-right movements were generally stigmatised and treated as pariahs. Political elites, mainstream parties, the media and civil society effectively marginalised the far right and limited its electoral prospects.
The AfD’s breakthrough in the 2017 federal election shattered this status quo. Winning 12.6% of the vote and securing 94 Bundestag seats, it became Germany’s third-largest party — unlocking viable political space to the right of the centre-right party CDU/CSU for the first time in the postwar era.
