‘Now is the time of monsters’: young Berliners despair at far-right surge | Germany

For more than 150 years, the symbolism of the Siegessäule, or Victory Column, in Berlin’s Tiergarten, has shifted alongside German identity: from emblem of the empire to strategic relocation by the Nazis and, finally, its adoption as an icon of Berlin’s legendary love parade.

On Sunday, as throngs of people gathered in its shadow, the golden statue bore witness to yet another shift – an election that had yielded an emboldened far right in a result that was unprecedented in Germany’s postwar history.

“I’m devastated,” said David, 32. “And I’m scared and sad.”

Preliminary results suggested that although the conservative CDU/CSU bloc had won the largest share of the vote (29%), likely to be the second force in the parliament was the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which garnered about 20% of the vote.

Polls had long predicted this result, said David, who declined to give his surname. But now the question was what exactly it meant for the millions of Germans who were either racialised, like him, or who are migrants.

He was among the many who had gathered outside the hull-shaped headquarters of the CDU to take in the results of the election. Unlike the party faithful who had neatly filed into the building earlier, David was not there to celebrate but part of a protest rally organised by an alliance of several civil society groups.

“I’m here outside the CDU because it will be them who decide how much they give to the AfD – I’m here to hold them accountable,” he said.

While Merz has ruled out any formal cooperation with the AfD, he leaned on the party during the campaign to support a non-binding resolution on border policy, marking a historic breach of a taboo.

His willingness to do so, and the election result – in which the AfD nearly doubled its share of votes from 2021 – have added to concerns about the influence the far-right party could have in Germany’s parliament.

Half of the country’s voters had chosen to cast their ballot for either the CDU/CSU bloc or the AfD, pointed out Gian Mecheril, 32. “That means that the coalition of fascists with the conservative party is possible,” he said. “It’s a danger.”

On Sunday night Merz again insisted there was “no question” of entering into coalition with the far-right party. But for the millions of Germans who regard the AfD as an unprecedented threat, that is of little comfort, particularly after a campaign marked by political rhetoric against migrants, while issues such as country’s ailing economy, deteriorating infrastructure or housing crisis were seemingly ignored.

“The campaign was just filled with racist diversions from the actual problems we face,” said Flo, 19. “I’m anxious about what comes next.”

The result was a divisive election that had helped to legitimise the far right, said Ella, 30. “The CDU’s win comes on the shoulders of the AfD,” she said. “They worked with them, they normalised them.”

Tens of thousands sought to fight back in recent weeks, taking to streets across Germany to protest against the far right and the AfD’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, as she backed the mass deportation of migrants and peddled a party whose ranks include members who have played down the horrors of the Holocaust and chapters that have been designated as “rightwing extremist” by security authorities.

“I would say the AfD is the ridiculous monster our period needs to have,” said Willi Schultz, 32, in a reference to the oft-cited quote attributed to Antonio Gramsci: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”

He contextualised the AfD support within the wider, global surge of backing for rightwing populists – a link reinforced during the election as Elon Musk used his influence to tout the AfD, describing it as the only party able to “save Germany”.

The election had laid bare Germany’s fragmented political landscape, said Charlotte, 21. Merz could need one or two parties to form a coalition, probably the Social Democrats and possibly the Greens.

“I don’t know what kind of coalition we’re going to have now, but I think it won’t be easy to make new laws and to keep politics going here in Germany,” Charlotte said. “I feel like we’ve forgotten how to speak with each other. We’re just more against each other rather than trying to understand each other’s position.”

A case in point, she added, were the one in five voters who had cast their ballot for the far right. The AfD proved particularly strong among in the 25-34 age bracket, receiving 22% of the vote, ahead of the CDU/CSU at 18%, and the Greens and Die Linke at 16% each.

“I wish it wasn’t like that, but there’s a big part of the people who think that they are not being seen by politicians right now. So they vote for the AfD.”

It remained to be seen what that would now mean for the world’s third largest economic power and most populous EU country. Recent weeks have underscored the scope of the challenge as Europe grapples with the breakdown of the transatlantic alliance under Donald Trump and looming threats to European security.

“The campaign was very much about migration, not anything else, even though we have these big problems to face with Trump and Putin,” said Charlotte. “I wish that had received more attention.”

For some, there was some solace to be taken from the late-campaign comeback of the far-left Die Linke, who drew more than 8% of the vote.

“It’s like a win for all of us,” said Liv Michel, 25. “It’s a win for everybody who’s afraid right now because of the rightwing movement in Germany.”