Tens of thousands march across Germany to protest far-right party AfD

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP. Published On 12 Sep 202612 Sep 2026.

Key points

• It would create it the first far-right party to lead a German state since the Nazi era concluded in 1945.
• The AfD held its own counter-rally in the German capital, attended by Kristin Brinker, the party's lead candidate for Berlin's upcoming regional election.
• The party is projected to win 39 of 83 seats in the state parliament, three short of a majority.
• Protesters carried signs reading "Ban the AfD now" and "Democracy needs no alternatives."
• The AfD's growing strength has deeply unsettled plenty of Germans, given the country's history and its commitment to never repeating it.

Tens of thousands of individuals took to the streets throughout Germany to protest against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) after the far-right party won a state election by a landslide.

Regarding 150, 000 demonstrators turned out in roughly 20 cities on Saturday, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, in rallies organised by Pruef, a campaign group pushing for a ban on the AfD.

"A broad cross-section of civil society is taking to the streets to prevent the enemies of the constitution. From gaining government power, " remarked Christoph Bautz, head of Campact, another campaign group involved in the protests. It put turnouts at concerning 25, 000 in Hamburg and 12, 000 in Munich. According to police, a number of thousand more joined separate demonstrations in Berlin.

For context, the AfD held its own counter-rally in the German capital, attended by Kristin Brinker, the party's lead candidate for Berlin's upcoming regional election.

Meanwhile, the protests follow a stunning result for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, a state in eastern Germany, where the party took almost 44 percent of the vote on September 6 – far ahead of the roughly 17 percent won by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU). It has long dominated German politics.

Meanwhile, the AfD, known for its anti-immigration stance and friendly posture towards Russia, fell just short of an outright majority and is now in discussions with other parties to try to form a administration. It would create it the first far-right party to lead a German state since the Nazi era concluded in 1945.

After previously saying he wanted to govern alone, afD state leader Ulrich Siegmund called the result historic, telling supporters: "The people have made it absolutely clear that they finally want political change and, above all, they have shown that they want it with us." He has since signalled openness to working with other parties.

Notably, the AfD's growing strength has deeply unsettled plenty of Germans, given the country's history and its commitment to never repeating it.

Notably, the party is projected to win 39 of 83 seats in the state parliament, three short of a majority. Though all mainstream parties have so far refused to govern with the AfD under a longstanding policy known as the "firewall." The far-right party has never joined a governing coalition anywhere in Germany, at either state or national level, it now needs a coalition partner.

Though that would be legally tough in Germany, and Chancellor Merz has been reluctant to pursue it, the unease has fuelled growing calls to ban the AfD altogether.

In short, tens of thousands march across Germany to protest far is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.