AfD Leads Saxony-Anhalt Polls as Party Pledges Patriotism Agenda

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is polling ahead in Saxony-Anhalt before the state election on 6 September, promoting a “patriotism” agenda that seeks changes in education, culture and public commemoration, party figures and supporters told the BBC.

AfD campaigners in towns such as Querfurt display national flags and argue for a broader presentation of German history, emphasizing periods before the World Wars alongside proposals to raise the flag at schools and preserve war memorials to German soldiers, the party’s manifesto and local reporting say.

The party’s planned school reforms would shift classroom focus toward the century before the two world wars while retaining instruction on National Socialism, though AfD strategist Hans-Thomas Tillschneider has said teaching on Nazism would be “somewhat less so.”

Domestic intelligence assessments have classified the AfD branch in Saxony-Anhalt as anti-democratic and influenced by a “racist ideology,” labels the party rejects as politicised. Polling suggests the AfD could win enough seats to form a majority and thereby take responsibility for culture, policing and education in the state.

Ulrich Siegmund, the leading AfD candidate who could become state premier if his party secures a majority, described the party’s emphasis on national pride as a return to normalcy and said it aims to teach Germany’s history “in its entirety, with all its highs and lows but with pride and a positive outlook,” according to the BBC.

Critics highlight past remarks by senior AfD figures that downplay or disparage the Nazi era, and some point to the party’s contacts with far-right activists. The AfD has denied attempts to relativise National Socialism and insists its policies, including a remigration proposal, would be lawful.

The party has pledged to cut public funding for art it deems “anti-German,” prompting concern among cultural institutions that rely on state subsidies. Local theatre directors describe the plan as vague and threatening, warning it echoes the cultural control historically exercised under the Nazi regime.

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

Polling places the AfD in a leading position in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of the 6 September vote, with campaign proposals focusing on patriotic education, increased visibility of national symbols in schools and reallocation of cultural funding. Domestic intelligence labels and the party’s public statements frame a contested debate over memory culture and state support for the arts based solely on the reporting details in the source text.

Quick Glance: What You Need to Know

• AfD tops polls in Saxony-Anhalt ahead of the 6 September state election and advocates a patriotism agenda.
• Party proposals include revising history teaching to emphasize pre-20th-century German history and raising school flags on weekdays.
• Domestic intelligence has classified the local AfD branch as anti-democratic and influenced by racist ideology; the party rejects these findings.