Beer, bratwurst and conspiracy: Inside a meeting of Germany’s far-right AfD

A village in Brandeburg, north-eastern Germany, made up of a crossroad and 80 residents, became a microcosm of the country last week.

As darkness pressed in on Freienthal, protesters whistled and brandished soccer-style red cards at cars heading toward the local village hall.

Outside the hall, people grabbed a beer and a bratwurst before taking their seats inside, ignoring calls from the protesters down the road to come and talk.

They came for an evening of conversation with the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), Germany’s leading far-right party.

To one camp, this meeting represented a call for political change; to the other, a risk to German democracy. That vehement disagreement is one being played out across the nation as it heads towards regional elections in September.

After far-right gains in several European countries, most notably in the Netherlands and Italy, Germany may follow suit.

The organizer of the anti-AfD protests in Freienthal, Adam Sevens, told CNN that “the AfD plans only reveal the xenophobia, hatred and bigotry that exists in this country. Now is the time for us to stand up.”

That sentiment may not be unfounded. One attendee, a nurse who refused to give her name, told us she was happy someone was speaking up for her, adding: “I’m glad that someone is taking care of all this scum that has spread here in our country, in our beautiful Germany – it really is a state.”

Members of the audience at the AfD meeting in Freienthal. – Chris Stern/CNN

Inside the hall, three prominent AfD lawmakers from the region, Brigit Bessin, Lars Hunich and Marlon Deter, took turns to address the 50-strong crowd, each emphatic message met with applause and banging of fists on tables.

Littered around the room was propaganda: leaflets pointing to “left-wing extremism” across Germany and posters with Trumpian undertones, one reading “our country first.”

Warped message

Part of the AfD’s strategy to win votes is to claim they are more transparent than Germany’s main political parties.

The AfD says it is giving a voice to the people who are not being heard in Berlin.

In the hall in Freienthal, the speakers were happier to latch on to populist debates and conspiracy.

Among the topics covered were QAnon, the Covid pandemic and whether climate change is real.

A teacher who refused to give her name told CNN as she left that she was voting for the AfD because they were “finally standing up for the citizens and are slowly doing what we want, and we want to be part of the government.”

Being part of the federal government is not likely for the party any time soon, but regionally they are an expanding force.

Berndt the extremist

Dr Hans-Christoph Berndt, is the head of the AfD in the Brandenburg region. He has been branded as a right-wing extremist by German intelligence.

Recently he’s been outspoken about a secret meeting of right-wing extremists, that took place in Potsdam, Brandenburg’s regional capital, and the subsequent nationwide protests.

The secret meeting allegedly discussed the deportation of asylum seekers and German nationals of foreign origin under the guise of “remigration.” Members of the AfD and even Berndt’s own press officer attended.

The AfD has officially tried to distance itself from the reports, saying it was not an official party meeting.

But the issue of immigration for the party is front and center.

Berndt said recently “remigration is not a secret – but a promise,”, a message he reiterated in an interview with CNN.

“We have to do this because a country that does not protect its borders, and a country that is open to anyone who comes, whether they have a reason or not, cannot exist,” he said, adding that the federal government “is not putting the interests of the indigenous population first, but rather putting others first.”

A sign in the sleepy town of Frienthal advertises the AfD meeting. – Chris Stern/CNN

Coalition of the discontented

Germans may not agree on the policy of immigration or the rhetoric around it, but one thing even the government admits is that it is not helping itself.

The coalition built by Chancellor Olaf Scholz is creaking, with infighting, disagreements about policy and accusations that elected officials no longer represent the values they were initially elected for.

Scholz himself is polling at one the lowest figures for a German chancellor ever.

Omid Nouripour is the head of the Green party, one of the coalition partners. He told CNN, “We have to improve a lot of things, especially the performance of our coalition. We are delivering a lot of solutions but the public debates we have on it are far too loud.”

Current polling data puts the coalition on course for a sizeable national election defeat with the AfD coming in second place if a vote were held tomorrow.

AfD fill the void

The polls in the regions, particularly three of the states that made up the former East Germany – Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony – are a reflection of a sense of abandonment and that the government is not listening. The AfD is stepping into the void.

In those three states the AfD is leading in the polls ahead of September’s regional elections. That, in turn, is fueling the party’s confidence. Dr Berndt says that “the government is obviously unable or unwilling to change its policies. And this policy is driving sympathy and voters to the AfD.”

He insists victory is on the horizon in the regional votes. “The dissatisfaction is growing dramatically, and the economic data is abysmal… the problems are growing and the AfD is the only relevant opposition party in Germany.”

Protesters against the AfD demonstrate down the road from the meeting. The signs say: ‘How many more Hitler documentaries do you need?’ And: ‘If the AfD is the answer, then how stupid was the question?’ – Chris Stern/CNN

Dr Conspiracy

As the party’s support grows, however, so does the backlash against it. The AfD and Berndt are trying to spin that angst as a government-controlled conspiracy.

“This is not about people getting up and making some kind of demand against a government, but the government and pro-government media and pro-government organizations calling on people to demonstrate against the opposition,” he said.

“I am 100 percent certain that without the government campaign, people wouldn’t be out on the street.

But the AfD knows it has a struggle on its hands, as opponents of the party vow to keep protesting. Sevens, the organizer in Freienthal, said the demonstration there encapsulated the mood of many: “It signals that a large community in Germany is now standing together, standing up and clearly positioning itself in favour of the fact that we don’t want this. Not in Germany.”

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