Germany’s far-right AfD is shut out from power for now, but waiting in the wings

Alice fuer Deutschland” (Alice for Germany) chanted supporters as far-right leader Alice Weidel addressed an election rally outside Germany’s financial centre Frankfurt, far from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s traditional eastern German stronghold.

To some, the chant is provocative. German media and commentators have highlighted how it recalls the phrase “Alles fuer Deutschland” (Everything for Germany) a banned Nazi-era slogan, engraved on the daggers of Adolf Hitler’s paramilitaries.

A state AfD leader, Bjoern Hoecke, has been fined for using those words. Weidel’s spokesman denies a resemblance.

Polling at around 21% ahead of Sunday’s federal parliamentary election, the AfD still has pariah status among other major political parties in a country where far-right politics has long carried a stigma because of the Nazi past.