Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Erfurt, Germany, to protest the Alternative for Germany (AfD) federal party congress, where co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla were re-elected [3][4][6]. Police estimated between 15,000 and 31,000 protesters, while the protest alliance Widersetzen claimed at least 50,000 participants [2][3][7][8][11]. The congress began on time with 540 delegates arriving before 5 a.m., according to an AfD spokesperson [7][11].
Weidel was re-elected with approximately 81 percent of delegate votes and Chrupalla with 70 percent [6][12]. Both leaders declared the party's intention to govern. "We will govern. First at a regional level, then at the national level," Chrupalla said [4][8][10]. Weidel told delegates that "more and more people in this country want to support us in the fight against Germany's decline, in the fight for our fatherland and for our identity" [8]. She also told protesters: "To the troublemakers out there at the door: you won't bring us down — quite the opposite, we're only getting stronger and bigger" [9]. The party currently leads Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc in national opinion polls [8].
Weidel vowed to carry out "rigorous deportations" of criminals and illegal migrants, stating: "For this remains our last chance to save our country" [3][4][8]. A Bavarian AfD resolution called for mandatory return programs, with deputy state chairman Rainer Rothfuß stating that Germany should not become a "Hängematte für die ganze Welt" (hammock for the whole world) [20]. Outgoing deputy leader Kay Gottschalk linked defeats of the German national football team to open borders [12]. The party's draft election program also calls for Germany's withdrawal from the EU, the euro, and the Paris Climate Agreement [28].
Chrupalla accused demonstrators of claiming a monopoly on democracy, stating: "This democracy is just as much our democracy as it is yours" [7]. He described protesters as "the last line of defence for our political competition" and called holding party conferences a guaranteed right [7]. The AfD's Bundestag parliamentary group has hosted what it called a "Democracy Congress" on free speech, media, and human rights, positioning the party as a champion of open expression [21].
Yasmin Fahimi, head of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), declared that "Erfurt is not just a site of some party conference, but a place of resistance" and called for a ban on the AfD [3][6]. The Widersetzen alliance accused the AfD of pursuing "mass deportations and ethnic cleansing" under its remigration agenda [14]. Protester Lene Krug described the AfD as "an anti-democratic party that spreads hate," and another protester identified as Ella said democratic parties "must impose a ban" on the AfD [7]. Demonstrators carried signs reading "Stop AfD Nazis" and "For Diversity, Against Nazis" [15][24], and some chanted "siamo tutti antifascisti" (we are all anti-fascists) while calling on governing parties to take clearer distance from the AfD [25].
Germany's domestic intelligence services have classified the AfD's Thuringia state branch as a "proven far-right extremist" entity, on the grounds that it does not regard citizens with immigrant backgrounds as equal [2][17][22]. The national party is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution on suspicion of anti-constitutional activities [2].
Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier stated that "most of the protests were peaceful" and described the demonstrations as "colorful and loud" [3]. A police spokesperson told Die Zeit that the demonstration had been mostly peaceful, with just under 100 offences recorded, many involving property damage by graffiti [7]. Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that "Germany's best years are not behind us" and that the political center can find solutions [3]. Environment Minister Carsten Schneider rejected the framing of the AfD as solely an eastern German phenomenon, stating that it "threatens all of Germany" [6].
Polsat News reported up to 25,000 participants in demonstrations and blockades, with local clashes where law enforcement used pepper spray [16]. Two journalists were injured by bottles thrown from an assembly, and police reported attacks particularly on livestreamers [11].
The legality of protest blockades became a contested constitutional question. The Thuringian State Administrative Office issued a general decree banning assemblies on access roads to the congress [11][13]. The Weimar Administrative Court initially overturned the ban, ruling that "die Allgemeinverfügung ist auf ein Verbot auch von friedlichen Versammlungen gerichtet" (the general decree is directed at prohibiting even peaceful assemblies) [13]. The Higher Administrative Court subsequently upheld the state of Thuringia's complaint and confirmed the demonstration ban on access roads [11][13]. The Federal Constitutional Court has previously ruled that assembly freedom is "ein unentbehrliches und grundlegendes Funktionselement eines demokratischen Gemeinwesens" (an indispensable and fundamental functional element of a democratic community) [13]. The Widersetzen alliance criticized the ban as an attack on freedom of assembly [19].
Yonhap News Agency reported that the congress coincided with the 100th anniversary of a 1926 Nazi Party meeting in nearby Weimar [18], a link also reported by Al Jazeera [1]. AfD leader Björn Höcke dismissed the comparison as "nonsense," asking: "Do you know how hard it is for the AfD to secure venues?" [3]. The party denied any intentional connection to the historical date [18].
Höcke attacked what he called "cartel parties" and multicultural civil society, stating they had imposed "la marca de Caín de los parias" (the mark of Cain of pariahs) on the AfD through the firewall strategy [6]. He pointed to the state of Germany's motorway toilets as an example of national malaise and described a "great Germany" as one where people need not fear walking through a city park in the evening [4][8].
Within the AfD, newly elected deputy leader Sven Tritschler called for the party to modernize, stating: "Lasst uns gemeinsam besser werden und die Partei modernisieren, wir brauchen endlich Strukturen, die zu einer Volkspartei passen" (Let us get better together and modernize the party, we finally need structures that fit a people's party) [12]. Stefan Möller, another newly elected deputy federal spokesperson, said: "Wir wissen mittlerweile, unser Wähler will gar nicht, dass jeder Migrant das Land verlassen muss" (We now know that our voters do not want every migrant to leave the country) [12]. The congress removed a motion on the incompatibility list from the agenda to avoid image problems before September state elections [12].
Former Thuringia premier Bodo Ramelow stated that Erfurt "stands for freedom, this city stands for diversity, this city stands for a shared, colorful life" [3][6]. Climate activist Luisa Neubauer called the protests a success, saying the organized resistance ensured that far-right delegates were "very tired" and had to be brought to their assembly by police in the middle of the night [11]. Dennis Baum, a descendant of the historically Jewish Simson family, called for the family name to be kept out of politics, stating: "Haltet den Namen Simson aus der Politik heraus" (Keep the name Simson out of politics), and said his family's Jewish faith "never fits with the AfD's programme" [11].
Representative survey data cited in German public broadcasting shows widespread fear among residents with immigrant backgrounds about potential deportations under the AfD's rising influence [27]. The AfD officially describes its remigration concept as a lawful return of foreigners obliged to leave, while distancing itself from demands for deporting German citizens with immigrant backgrounds [27].
German academic organizations have expressed concerns about AfD proposals to reshape higher education and eliminate gender studies programs, which they argue threaten academic freedom and institutional autonomy [23]. Euronews Russian-language service reported that the protests also targeted the AfD's pro-Russia stance and opposition to sanctions against Russia [26].
The AfD faces September state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, where lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund has the chance to take government responsibility for the first time [12]. Chrupalla called on supporters to help the party win an absolute majority, saying it would "send the right signal to the democracy-haters out there who wanted to prevent our party conference" [7].