Thuringia, one of the five eastern German Länder, has just broken a post-1949 taboo - and smashed a civil society firewall and political cordon sanitaire - by making a Far Right party, AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), the winner of its state election on September 1. The result, giving it almost a third of the vote (2.8%) there and over 30% (30.6%) in neighbouring Saxony, was … [Read more...] about An alarming Alternative for Germany
Germany
The AfD can win on an extremist platform
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has achieved unprecedented results in regional elections in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, both part of former East Germany. The party took around 30 per cent of the vote in each state. In Thuringia, this put the AfD well ahead of any other party. In Saxony, the AfD was a close second behind the Christian Democratic Union … [Read more...] about The AfD can win on an extremist platform
Peat Bog Soldiers: how a Scottish band contributes to a German concentration camp archive
Can a rock band make history? Not in the sense of releasing bestselling records, being garlanded with awards, or achieving notoriety through more controversial means. But rather, can a rock band actually make “History” with a capital H? Song has always been a medium through which popular tales of the past have been recounted. Scotland, for example, has a strong tradition of … [Read more...] about Peat Bog Soldiers: how a Scottish band contributes to a German concentration camp archive
A new Germany?
“Scholz is the new Merkel,” opined Michael Hanfeld, an online columnist for the conservative German daily FAZ after the first of the televised ‘Triells’ between himself as social democrat Kanzlerkandidat and Armin Laschet for the Christian Democrats and Annalena Baerbock for the Greens on August 29. It’s a common view among the German commentariat. Something remarkable is … [Read more...] about A new Germany?
Germany’s miles better…
Thirty years ago, on October 3 1990, I was standing among a million people in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin observing and reporting on the ceremonies celebrating the rebirth of a united Germany. A streaker briefly interrupted the profoundly good-natured, often low-key event in the run-up to midnight when President Richard von Weizsäcker, accompanied by Kohl, … [Read more...] about Germany’s miles better…