Magdeburg, Germany — At first glance, Magdeburg may seem an unlikely stage for a political upheaval of international significance. But this weekend, the city of only about 244,000 people will be at the center of an election that could leave a far-right party in control of a German state for the first time since World War II. Magdeburg is the capital of the East German state of Saxony-Anhalt — where the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is hoping to rise to power in Sunday's state election.
Supporters and opponents of right-wing populist movements across Europe and beyond are watching closely to see if the AfD can turn a significant lead in opinion polls into real power. The latest surveys show the AfD polling at 41%, well ahead of its closest rival, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which stood Friday at 23%. Should the AfD win, it would be an extraordinary breakthrough for a party founded in 2013 largely as a protest movement against the European Union, but which has since shifted far to the right.
Since 2023, the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD Saxony-Anhalt as a "confirmed far-right extremist" organization. According to the office, which is the state branch of Germany's national domestic intelligence agency, the AfD chapter's core positions violate fundamental principles of Germany's constitution and are "substantially permeated by the racist ideology of ethnopluralism." "Numerous anti-Muslim, racist and antisemitic statements by officials and elected representatives of the state association demonstrate that the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt seeks precisely such an ethnoculturally homogeneous national population and calls for the exclusion of people on the basis of their origin or religion," the agency says. AfD Saxony-Anhalt's main candidate in this election, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, rejects the assessment.
In an August interview, he accused the state intelligence agency of being politically weaponized against his party. "It monitors the opposition," he said. "It is being used as a political instrument." If his party wins power, it would consider either abolishing the state intelligence agency or restructuring it, he added.
Siegmund comes across as composed, charismatic and approachable. But the August cover of the widely-read Der Spiegel magazine branded him "Germany's most dangerous man," noting his combination of a winning demeanor, a realistic chance of gaining power of a state, and a radical platform. The article noted that Siegmund's close party associates include former officials from the "Heimattreuen Deutschen Jugend," a neo-Nazi youth organization that was banned in 2009.
Siegmund was at the 2023 "Potsdam meeting," a gathering of German and other far-right figures where Austrian anti-immigration extremist Martin Sellner presented his "master plan" for "remigration." The concept envisioned asylum seekers, non-Germans living legally in the country, and German nationals with immigrant backgrounds who had failed to "assimilate" in the country, all being expelled to live in an unspecified African nation. A version of the plan has become central to AfD Saxony-Anhalt's platform. The state party calls for a "deportation and remigration offensive," with more detention centers to handle people destined for deportation, and advocating for new, tight limits on the number of people permitted to migrate to Germany.
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