Around 150,000 protest across Germany against AfD after Saxony-Anhalt election win

About 150,000 people took part in demonstrations across Germany on Saturday against the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, after the party won a strong result in last week's state election in Saxony-Anhalt. The protests were held in around 20 cities, including Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, as organisers called for the party to be banned. In the capital, police said several thousand people joined multiple demonstrations, while the AfD staged a counter-demonstration.

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Organisers said the rallies were aimed at preventing the party from gaining government power in Saxony-Anhalt. Protesters carried signs reading "Ban the AfD now" and "Democracy needs no alternatives," reflecting concern about the party's growing influence. Christoph Bautz, head of the campaign group Campact, said a broad cross-section of civil society was taking to the streets to stop what he described as enemies of the constitution from gaining power.

The demonstrations came after the AfD topped the vote in Saxony-Anhalt and began talks with other groups and MPs in an effort to form a state government. The election result has intensified debate in Germany over how mainstream parties should respond to the AfD. The party, which is anti-immigration and Russia-friendly, won almost 44% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, compared with 17% for the Christian Democratic Union.

It fell three seats short of an absolute majority, but its position has raised the prospect of the first far-right state government in Germany since World War Two. That possibility has added urgency to calls from some protesters and campaigners for a formal ban on the party. The issue carries particular weight in Germany because of the country's historical responsibility for the Nazi era and the legal and political sensitivity surrounding any attempt to outlaw a major party.

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Calls for a ban have grown as the AfD's support has expanded, but Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the centre-right CDU, remains sceptical about such a move. The protests therefore reflect not only anger at one election result, but also a wider argument about the limits of democratic tolerance and the tools available to defend the constitutional order. The demonstrations also underline the scale of public mobilisation against the AfD in a number of major cities.

Berlin was a focal point, with both anti-AfD protests and a counter-demonstration by the party itself, attended by Kristin Brinker, its lead candidate in next weekend's regional elections in the city. The involvement of Campact and other civil society groups suggests the response is being coordinated beyond a single local protest and is part of a broader national campaign. What remains unclear is whether the pressure from the streets will translate into a political consensus for any formal move against the AfD.

The party is still in talks over forming a government in Saxony-Anhalt, and its next steps will be closely watched in Berlin and other regional capitals. The outcome of those negotiations, and the response of mainstream parties, will help determine whether the protests become a turning point or remain a show of opposition to the party's rise.

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