A defection from the #AfD brings the number of parties in Germany’s parliament to 8. It could not matter less

When Lucke and his supporters left the AfD in 2015, they founded a new party called ALFA. Because another group with a similar name already existed, they had to change it to LKR, which stands for liberal-conservative reformers. This label neatly encapsulates Lucke’s vision for the AfD. It’s a brand that helped him to establish his…

August 2020: Four in five Germans want stricter enforcement of the Corona rules

The self-styled Corona rebels will hold yet another rally tomorrow. After a massive mobilisation drive that is supported by various far right orgs, they are expecting about 25,000 participants. In all likelihood, they will claim that a million people took part in the March on Berlin™. To put this in perspective, here are some findings…

Pegida has become a cult

Under lockdown, Germany’s PEGIDA goes to YouTube (radicalrightanalysis.com)

Germany’s far-right group PEGIDA is mobilizing weekly ‘virtual marches’ livestreamed on YouTube. PEGIDA demonstration in Dresden December 16, 2018 | Derbrauni / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
On a Monday evening in early April 2020, around 1,000 users are waiting for a YouTube livestream, ho…

Who are the Germans protesting against the COVID-19 measures, and who is benefiting?

Who are the Germans protesting against the COVID-19 measures, and who is benefiting? 1

Last weekend, thousands of Germans took to the streets to protest against the anti-Corona policies. The scenes were quite extraordinary and were widely reported in German and in international media, not least because the rallies were attended by far-right actors and conspiracy theorists. The good folks at Handelsblatt interviewed some colleagues and me, and someone…

For Germany, May 8 is a day of liberation, not of surrender

On May the 8th 1945, the Wehrmacht surrendered, bringing the war in Europe and the terror reign of the Nazis to an end.1 40 years later, then-president Richard von Weizsäcker, himself a former officer of the Wehrmacht and a scion of the same Prussian gentry that for centuries has supplied the army with cadets, kicked…

Germany’s AfD did not really kick out the wing(nuts)

Update #3 March 25: Looks like we are indeed getting an option 1+2 outcome: Höcke & Kalbitz say they cannot shred the membership list b/c there is none, but tell members to refrain from political activity under the “wing” brand. Obviously, they will otherwise remain very active within the party. Update #2 March 21: The…

The 10 most popular posts on this blog in 2019

The 10 most popular posts on this blog in 2019 2

Yet another end-of-year post It’s that time of the year again. No, I’m not talking about mindless consumerism, pointless over-indulgence and the Great Starbucks War on Christmas. What I’m talking about is my yearly reflection on why I still solo blog in <insert year>, and which posts were the least unpopular. To which the answer…