Germany’s far-right AfD sets up youth wing, drawing thousands of demonstrators
Thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday in the central German city of Giessen for the launch of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s new youth organisation. The meeting was delayed as some AfD supporters clashed with police.
Issued on: 29/11/2025
By: FRANCE 24
In a ruling last year rejecting a call for an injunction against the Young Alternative designation, a Cologne court argued that preserving an ethnically defined German people and the exclusion if possible of the “ethnically foreign” was a central political idea of the group.
It also pointed to agitation against migrants and asylum-seekers, and links with extremist groups such as the Identitarian Movement. In June this year, a higher court ended the appeal process, noting that the Young Alternative had been dissolved.
A typical move for German parties
AfD's other co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, said the party must learn from past mistakes.
“Some benefited from the young, from their ability to mobilize, but didn't have the well-being and future of this youth sufficiently in sight,” he said. “We should have taken more care of the young new hopes in our party; it will be different in the future.” He added that the young activists must “put themselves at the party's service.”
It's typical for German parties to have youth wings, which are generally more politically radical than the parties themselves. It remains to be seen whether the new AfD youth organisation will be more moderate than its predecessor, with at least some continuity expected.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered Saturday in the central German city of Giessen for the launch of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s new youth organisation. The meeting was delayed as some AfD supporters clashed with police.
Issued on: 29/11/2025
By: FRANCE 24
Protesters confront police during a demonstration against Germany's far-right AfD party, which was holding a conference in Giessen, Germany, on 29 November 2025. © Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP
A confident far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gathered Saturday to found its new youth organisation as thousands of protesters converged on the western city of Giessen, some of them clashing with police.
Demonstrators began descending on the central town from the early morning, with police also out in force. The meeting had been due to start at 10am local time but only got underway hours later, accompanied by audible whistles, drums and chants from the protesters outside.
Demonstrators blocked or tried to block roads in and around the city of some 93,000, delaying many delegates' arrival. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location. In another case, police said they used water cannons to clear a blockade by some 2,000 protesters after they ignored calls to leave.
AfD's leaders condemned the protests as the meeting opened at the city's convention centre. “What is being done out there – dear left-wingers, dear extremists, you need to look at yourselves – is something that is deeply undemocratic,” party co-leader Alice Weidel said.
The new youth organisation's predecessor, the Young Alternative – a largely autonomous group with relatively loose links to the party – was dissolved at the end of March after AfD decided to formally cut ties with it.
AfD wants to have closer oversight over the new group, expected to be called Generation Germany. The party finished second in Germany's national election in February with over 20% of the vote and is now the country's biggest opposition party. AfD, with which mainstream parties refuse to work, has continued to rise in polls as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government has failed to impress voters.
A confident far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gathered Saturday to found its new youth organisation as thousands of protesters converged on the western city of Giessen, some of them clashing with police.
Demonstrators began descending on the central town from the early morning, with police also out in force. The meeting had been due to start at 10am local time but only got underway hours later, accompanied by audible whistles, drums and chants from the protesters outside.
Demonstrators blocked or tried to block roads in and around the city of some 93,000, delaying many delegates' arrival. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location. In another case, police said they used water cannons to clear a blockade by some 2,000 protesters after they ignored calls to leave.
AfD's leaders condemned the protests as the meeting opened at the city's convention centre. “What is being done out there – dear left-wingers, dear extremists, you need to look at yourselves – is something that is deeply undemocratic,” party co-leader Alice Weidel said.
The new youth organisation's predecessor, the Young Alternative – a largely autonomous group with relatively loose links to the party – was dissolved at the end of March after AfD decided to formally cut ties with it.
AfD wants to have closer oversight over the new group, expected to be called Generation Germany. The party finished second in Germany's national election in February with over 20% of the vote and is now the country's biggest opposition party. AfD, with which mainstream parties refuse to work, has continued to rise in polls as Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government has failed to impress voters.
File phot of a delegate casting his vote during the re-founding of the AfD youth organization in Giessen, Germany, taken November 29, 2025. © Martin Meissner, AP
Germany's domestic intelligence agency had concluded that the Young Alternative was a proven right-wing extremist group. It later classified AfD itself as such a group, but suspended the designation after AfD launched a legal challenge.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency had concluded that the Young Alternative was a proven right-wing extremist group. It later classified AfD itself as such a group, but suspended the designation after AfD launched a legal challenge.
Germany arrests teenagers accused of forming far-right 'terrorist' group, planning attacks
In a ruling last year rejecting a call for an injunction against the Young Alternative designation, a Cologne court argued that preserving an ethnically defined German people and the exclusion if possible of the “ethnically foreign” was a central political idea of the group.
It also pointed to agitation against migrants and asylum-seekers, and links with extremist groups such as the Identitarian Movement. In June this year, a higher court ended the appeal process, noting that the Young Alternative had been dissolved.
A typical move for German parties
AfD's other co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, said the party must learn from past mistakes.
“Some benefited from the young, from their ability to mobilize, but didn't have the well-being and future of this youth sufficiently in sight,” he said. “We should have taken more care of the young new hopes in our party; it will be different in the future.” He added that the young activists must “put themselves at the party's service.”
It's typical for German parties to have youth wings, which are generally more politically radical than the parties themselves. It remains to be seen whether the new AfD youth organisation will be more moderate than its predecessor, with at least some continuity expected.
Kevin Dorow, a delegate from Germany's northern Schleswig-Holstein state, said he was previously active in the local branch of the Young Alternative.
“The new formation means above all continuing what the Young Alternative started - being a training ground, attracting young people ... and above all bringing them into politics for the good of the party," in which they could take on offices at some point, he said. He said he hadn't seen any “drift in a radical direction” in the Young Alternative.
AfD portrays itself as an anti-establishment force at a time of low trust in politicians. It first entered the national parliament in 2017 on the back of discontent with the arrival of large numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s, and curbing migration remains its signature theme. But it has shown a talent for capitalizing on discontent about other issues too in recent years. That was reflected in the confident tone of AfD's leaders Saturday.
Five of Germany's 16 states hold regional elections next year. Two of those are in the ex-communist east, where the party is strongest.
“We will get the majority of mandates; we will provide our first governor,” Weidel said.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
Giessen (Germany) (AFP) – The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) founded its new youth wing "Generation Deutschland" on Saturday in the face of noisy protests that delayed its meeting by more than two hours.
Issued on: 29/11/2025 - FRANCE24
Alice Weidel condemned the protesters outside © Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
According to police, at least 25,000 protesters descended on the central town of Giessen near Frankfurt to oppose the AfD event.
The meeting had been due to start at 10:00 am local time (0900 GMT) but only got underway after noon, accompanied by audible whistles, drums and chants from the protesters outside.
The party's co-leader Alice Weidel condemned those who had caused "chaos" outside and said those gathered in the hall were "the new generations of the party".
The anti-immigration AfD became Germany's main opposition at February's general election, in which it won a record score of more than 20 percent, and hopes to make further gains at state elections next year in its eastern heartlands.
The new youth organisation will replace the Junge Alternative (JA), which was classified as an extremist group by intelligence services and then disbanded by the AfD earlier this year, pre-empting a possible ban.
The JA had frequently been involved in controversies, including its members using racist chants and holding meetings with neo-Nazis.
The party's other co-leader Tino Chrupalla admitted in his speech to the hall that the party had "to learn from past mistakes".
Some of those active in the party's previous youth activities had "banged their heads against the wall rather than getting their foot in the door", he said.
'A new Hitler Youth'
Generation Deutschland's first leader will be Jean-Pascal Hohm, 28, an AfD state lawmaker from eastern Germany with long-standing ties to various far-right and ethno-nationalist groups.
He was elected leader by an overwhelming majority, with attendees rising from their seats to applaud him and shout his name.
According to police, at least 25,000 protesters descended on the central town of Giessen near Frankfurt to oppose the AfD event.
The meeting had been due to start at 10:00 am local time (0900 GMT) but only got underway after noon, accompanied by audible whistles, drums and chants from the protesters outside.
The party's co-leader Alice Weidel condemned those who had caused "chaos" outside and said those gathered in the hall were "the new generations of the party".
The anti-immigration AfD became Germany's main opposition at February's general election, in which it won a record score of more than 20 percent, and hopes to make further gains at state elections next year in its eastern heartlands.
The new youth organisation will replace the Junge Alternative (JA), which was classified as an extremist group by intelligence services and then disbanded by the AfD earlier this year, pre-empting a possible ban.
The JA had frequently been involved in controversies, including its members using racist chants and holding meetings with neo-Nazis.
The party's other co-leader Tino Chrupalla admitted in his speech to the hall that the party had "to learn from past mistakes".
Some of those active in the party's previous youth activities had "banged their heads against the wall rather than getting their foot in the door", he said.
'A new Hitler Youth'
Generation Deutschland's first leader will be Jean-Pascal Hohm, 28, an AfD state lawmaker from eastern Germany with long-standing ties to various far-right and ethno-nationalist groups.
He was elected leader by an overwhelming majority, with attendees rising from their seats to applaud him and shout his name.
Thousands of anti-AfD protesters gathered from the early morning
© Sascha Schuermann / AFP
In his speech to the hall he promised to "fight for a real change in migration policy so that Germany remains the homeland of Germans".
Christopher Tamm, a 25 student and local AfD politician from the eastern state of Brandenburg, said he was "very happy" with how the afternoon went.
Hohm "has all the necessary knowledge and skills" to lead the organisation, Tamm told AFP.
Inside the hall, stalls were set up offering the attendees -- overwhelmingly men -- merchandise including protein powder and mugs and T-shirts bearing images of AfD leaders.
Outside there were some clashes between police and protesters seeking to block access to the AfD meeting, with police saying several officers were lightly injured.
Other demonstrators flew rainbow flags and held up banners with anti-AfD slogans.
Carsten Kachelmus, a 52-year-old who works in programme management, told AFP: "We mustn't allow a new Hitler Youth to be created, especially us with our history here in Germany."
"That's why it's so important for us to show solidarity and to resist."
'Far-right milieu'
In May, Germany's domestic security service declared the AfD as a whole a "right-wing extremist" organisation, fuelling calls to ban it.
The party has challenged the designation in the courts.
In his speech to the hall he promised to "fight for a real change in migration policy so that Germany remains the homeland of Germans".
Christopher Tamm, a 25 student and local AfD politician from the eastern state of Brandenburg, said he was "very happy" with how the afternoon went.
Hohm "has all the necessary knowledge and skills" to lead the organisation, Tamm told AFP.
Inside the hall, stalls were set up offering the attendees -- overwhelmingly men -- merchandise including protein powder and mugs and T-shirts bearing images of AfD leaders.
Outside there were some clashes between police and protesters seeking to block access to the AfD meeting, with police saying several officers were lightly injured.
Other demonstrators flew rainbow flags and held up banners with anti-AfD slogans.
Carsten Kachelmus, a 52-year-old who works in programme management, told AFP: "We mustn't allow a new Hitler Youth to be created, especially us with our history here in Germany."
"That's why it's so important for us to show solidarity and to resist."
'Far-right milieu'
In May, Germany's domestic security service declared the AfD as a whole a "right-wing extremist" organisation, fuelling calls to ban it.
The party has challenged the designation in the courts.
Jean-Pascal Hohm is considered to be from the radical wing of the AfD
© Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
Political observers expect Generation Deutschland to be at least as radical as the JA.
Fabian Virchow, of the University of Duesseldorf, said that "the leading figures come from a far-right milieu, in which former activists from the Identitarian Movement, fraternities, neo-Nazism and ethno-nationalist groups come together".
While the JA operated as a registered association relatively free of the parent party, its successor is set to be more closely integrated into the AfD and subject to its disciplinary structures.
"However, this comes at the cost of the party no longer being able to completely credibly distance itself from the youth organisation should it adopt problematic positions."
© 2025 AFP
Political observers expect Generation Deutschland to be at least as radical as the JA.
Fabian Virchow, of the University of Duesseldorf, said that "the leading figures come from a far-right milieu, in which former activists from the Identitarian Movement, fraternities, neo-Nazism and ethno-nationalist groups come together".
While the JA operated as a registered association relatively free of the parent party, its successor is set to be more closely integrated into the AfD and subject to its disciplinary structures.
"However, this comes at the cost of the party no longer being able to completely credibly distance itself from the youth organisation should it adopt problematic positions."
© 2025 AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment