The nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has grown rapidly since it was formed in 2013. While the party initially modelled itself as a socially conservative and economically liberal movement in its early years, it has since lurched violently to the right. With party co-chairman Alexander Gauland talking of fighting an “invasion of foreigners”, Björn Höcke illegally repeating a Nazi slogan during a rally in 2021, and party leader Alice Weidel describing Germany’s remembrance culture as a “guilt cult”, it’s unsurprising that many have compared the AfD to a modern-day Nazi party.

Disturbingly, back in June, the AfD made strong gains in the EU election. Polls had predicted a shift to the right, but the result still shocked the largely centrist German establishment, with the AfD becoming the second largest German political force in the European Parliament. The AfD won a significant number of votes from young people: while the majority of under 25s voted for the Green Party in the last EU election in 2019, in 2024 a sizable 16 per cent voted for the AfD, tripling the party’s voteshare among this demographic. Notably, this election marked the first time 16- and 17-year-olds were able to vote, after reforms that had been strongly backed by left-leaning parties.

The AfD is a racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, ultra-capitalist party that’s going to change nothing for the better

While it’s alarming to see so many young people turn to the right, it’s worth acknowledging that 26 per cent of young people voted for centre-left or left-wing parties and that many are disturbed by the rise of the AfD. “It’s really, really scary,” says Svenja, a 26-year-old living in Munich. “When all of this started a couple of years ago, it was so shocking that this party even existed or that it would get any votes.” She stresses that in Germany “you grow up knowing that this is part of the history” and is baffled by the apparent appetite for a new far-right party. “I wouldn’t say it’s history repeating itself exactly, but this is kind of how it started 100 years ago,” she says. “I just can’t understand it.”

This chimes with 28-year-old Johanna, who lives in Berlin. “It’s terrifying and, to a certain extent, surreal – I never thought that far-right ideologies would slip back into the mainstream again and be so widely accepted,” she says. “Take Elon Musk speaking at their rally saying Germans ‘shouldn’t feel guilty about their past anymore’. Statements like that would’ve been unacceptable a couple of years ago, they seem to be normal now.”

Svenja moved back to Munich in 2021 after finishing her degree at a UK university and believes the political climate changed drastically in the five years she was away. “I’ve seen so many far-right demonstrations since I've moved back to Germany – beforehand I’d never seen a single one,” she says. “Even in Munich, a very [cosmopolitan] city, there are far-right protesters now.” She adds that it’s particularly “terrifying” to see so many young people vote AfD. “We used to just say it was the old Nazis or whatever, but now it’s young people,” she says.

So how did Germany’s Overton window lurch to the right in the space of just a few years – and why are so many young people drawn to the AfD? Svenja suggests that the party has successfully “targeted” Gen Z voters through TikTok, much like the UK’s Reform party. According to a study published last year, of all the parties represented in the German parliament, the AfD uses TikTok the most. AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund currently has 488,000 followers – tens of thousands more than current chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Simon, 25, is a political video content creator based in Berlin with a combined following of around 70,000. He attributes the AfD’s popularity among young people to desperation for radical change. Like many other young people around the world, under-30s in Germany are facing a lack of affordable housing, wage stagnation, diminishing job prospects, and poor social mobility. “We have grown up in a world that is in constant crisis,” he explains. “Many young people vote for the AfD because they – correctly – feel like something has to change. But they don’t know what exactly, so they vote for the party that’s promising the most radical change.”

Svenja agrees and suggests that this is largely why the AfD is particularly popular in East Germany (AfD won a state election in Thuringia in September 2024, marking the first instance of a far-right party winning a state election since the Nazi era). “They feel like they’ve been left behind,” she explains, adding that the East has been neglected by successive governments. She’s not wrong: according to 2021 figures, East Germans have 11 per cent less disposable income than their Western counterparts and they inherit around half as much wealth. “It’s a huge mistake that the politicians here have made.” She suggests the chronic neglect has created a “breeding ground” for right-wing populism.

“The AfD is a racist, misogynistic, antisemitic, ultra-capitalist party that’s going to change nothing for the better,” Simon surmises. “But the lack of a coherent positive vision of the left in terms of tackling the poly-crises is making the AfD even more popular.” He adds that the AfD’s mounting popularity is “not an isolated German phenomenon”, citing the rise of other right-wing figures like Giorgia Meloni, Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, and Donald Trump as a response to “rising social inequality and stagnating wages” around the world.

Still, there’s hope. Since 2024 there have been nationwide protests against the AfD; most recently, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Berlin in February in protest against the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz’s decision to lean on support from the AfD to push through a bill aimed at curbing immigration – in breach of the German political establishment’s tacit, post-Nazi agreement to never collaborate with the far-right. Simon says that the feedback he receives from his viewers make him feel “hopeful” too. While he acknowledges that the country’s left must offer disillusioned young people a viable alternative, it’s clear, he says, that “a lot of young people are willing to stand up against the AfD”.