Story summary
In a potentially historic election, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is poised to gain power in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. This would be the first time a far-right party has held state-level power in Germany since World War II.
According to exit polls, the AfD is leading with around 44% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago. This would give them an absolute majority in the state legislature and allow them to govern on their own. The AfD's success has been fueled by popular disillusionment with successive governments in Berlin and support from formerly communist states in the east.
The party's platform includes restricting immigration, quitting the Euro, and restoring ties with Russia. If successful, this could mark a significant shift in German politics and potentially have far-reaching implications for the country's future.
Experts warn that an AfD victory would give them significant political leverage over state resources, including education, where they hope to achieve goals such as creating separate classrooms for refugees and promoting a patriotism agenda that focuses less on the country's Nazi past.
Written for “Germany's Far-Right Gains Power” on 2026-09-08,
grounded in this article and the 51 other(s) covering the same event.
Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) is poised to finish ahead of rivals in a state election, coming closer than any other far-right party in the country to governing at a regional level since World War II.
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Alternative → poise → II
The party won 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt’s state election on Sunday, according to provisional results.
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party → win → results
By comparison, center-right CDU, the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, won less than 20%.
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CDU → win → %
The state of 2.1 million people saw a record voter turnout of 77%.
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state → see → %
But the party faces an uncertain path towards power.
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party → face → power
Without an absolute majority, it would need a coalition partner or support from lawmakers outside the party to form a government—something that German mainstream parties have thus far refused to provide.
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parties → need → that
Nevertheless, the surge in support for the AfD, which ran on a platform of restricting immigration, ending aid to Ukraine, and taking Germany out of the euro, is remarkable in a country where the legacy of Nazism has long kept the far right at the political margins.
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legacy → run → margins
The party’s Saxony-Anhalt branch is classified by the state’s domestic intelligence as “right-wing extremist,” a designation that its leaders reject.
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leaders → classify → that
“We have made history in this country,” Ulrich Siegmund, AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, said after polls closed.
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polls → make → Anhalt
“We’re taking our country back, it starts in Saxony-Anhalt,” he added.
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he → take → Anhalt
“A jolt is going through all of Germany.”
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jolt → go → Germany
The result has already drawn global reactions.
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result → draw → reactions
U.S. President Donald Trump posted a screenshot of the projected results without comment on Truth Social.
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Trump → post → Social
Members of Trump’s Administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, previously expressed public support for the party.
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Members → include → party
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who spoke at AfD’s campaign launch last year, congratulated AfD co-leader Alice Weidel on the projected win.
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who → speak → win
In response, Siegmund thanked him “for your support” and said he would “welcome the opportunity for strong and constructive cooperation.”
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he → thank → cooperation
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev posted a screenshot of Trump’s post.
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Dmitriev → post → post
He said in the caption,“Historic win for the pragmatic AfD that will put migration under control.
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that → say → control
The ruling Bidenthink coalition eviscerated,” referring to former U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
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coalition → rule → Biden
The AfD is friendly to the Kremlin and has advocated for Germany to end support for Ukraine.
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Germany → advocate → Ukraine
Invoking the collapse of the communist regime in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Herbert Kickl, leader of the right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) said, “As of today, the strong wind of freedom from 1989 is blowing through Germany once again.”
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wind → invoke → Germany
Other European leaders expressed alarm over the result.
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leaders → express → result
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said more bluntly, “In Poland, only idiots or traitors can rejoice at the triumph of the AfD in Germany.”
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idiots → say → Germany
What to know about Siegmund and the AfD
The AfD’s platform in Saxony-Anhalt ranges from tighter immigration controls to a sweeping overhaul of the state’s education system.
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platform → know → system
Among its more controversial proposals is a policy of “remigration,” which is widely interpreted as mass deportation, although the party says it will prioritize deporting people with a criminal record.
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it → interpret → record
It has also called for segregating children of refugees and asylum-seekers in schools, and ending war refugee status for Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia.
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It → call → Russia
The party would largely be unable to enact many of its immigration policies in any individual state even if it can form a government, since many of its proposals would require federal action.
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many → enact → action
But it could tighten policing and pursue changes to schools and cultural policy at the state level.
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it → tighten → level
The party wants to steer schools and cultural institutions towards more traditional and nationalist values.
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party → want → values
It has also advocated revising history curricula to shift emphasis away from the Third Reich and for schools to ban rainbow flags.
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schools → advocate → flags
Instead, it wants schools to fly the German national flag daily, sing the national anthem at school celebrations, and teach more Russian language.
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schools → want → language
The AfD has also attacked Bauhaus, calling the influential school and design movement an “aberration of modernism.”
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AfD → attack → modernism
Critics, including Germany’s culture minister, have said the AfD’s rhetoric echoes that of the Nazis, who forced the Bauhaus school to close in 1933.
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who → include → 1933
The AfD capitalized on disillusionment with the political establishment and drew on regional and national pride, including “Ostalgie” or nostalgia for aspects of life in the former communist East Germany.
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AfD → capitalize → Germany
That message found fertile ground in eastern strongholds, like Saxony-Anhalt, where economic disparities with western Germany persist decades after reunification.
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disparities → find → reunification
During the campaign, Siegmund frequently rode a blue Simson, a moped manufactured in the former East Germany, a move that drew criticism from the descendants of the Jewish family that founded Simson.
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that → ride → Simson
The Halle Institute for Economic Research in Germany has warned that the AfD’s anti-immigration policies could deepen Saxony-Anhalt’s labor shortage and cost the state billions in economic output.
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policies → warn → output
Merz has also argued that an AfD victory could turn away foreign investment from the state.
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victory → argue → state
Founded in 2013, support for the AfD has grown significantly in recent years.
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support → found → years
The AfD doubled its national vote share in 2025, and is the country’s most popular party nationally, polling at 28%, according to a recent INSA poll.
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AfD → double → poll
…and 17 more, not listed.
